personal injury to or death of seafarers
16 and Guidelines on fair treatment of
seafarers in the event of a maritime accident.
17 Reference should also be made to
the Guidelines on the preservation and collection of evidence following an allegation
of a serious crime having taken place on board a ship or following a report of a
missing person from a ship, and pastoral and medical care of persons affected, which
had been developed by the Legal Committee and were adopted by the Assembly in
2003.
18 In 2019 the Committee prepared a draft Resolution on measures to prevent
the fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships for consideration by the
IMO Assembly, and it adopted a recommendation on best practices to assist in
combatting such fraudulent actions. In 2019 the Committee further decided to
consider the possible development of a unified interpretation of the test for breaking
the shipowner's right to limitation of liability under the IMO liability conventions.
19
The Committee could also in the future make valuable contributions to the development of “soft law” in the maritime field.
The above-mentioned IMO Assembly Resolutions that establish criteria for the
adoption of new conventions and amendments to existing ones apply not only to the
Legal Committee but also to other IMO Committees. It is suggested, however, that
the character of the treaty instruments within the competence of the other Committees is somewhat different, in that these instruments to a large extent deal with
technical issues, in particular SOLAS, MARPOL and the FAL Convention. It will
most likely be necessary in the future to adopt amendments to these instruments
frequently in the light of experience and the development in the shipping industry.
Such amendments could to a large extent be adopted through the tacit acceptance
procedure referred to above and would not therefore have to be submitted to a
Diplomatic Conference followed by ratification by States.
4 Proposals for the Development of Two New Treaties
Recently Brought Before the IMO Legal Committee
In recent years proposals have been submitted to the Legal Committee that it should
consider the elaboration of two new conventions, namely one on civil liability for oil
pollution resulting from offshore activities and the other on the recognition of
foreign judicial sales of ships. However, for reasons set out below, the Legal
Committee decided not to undertake the task of developing international conventions in these fields.
16 Resolution A.931(22).
17 Resolution LEG.3(91).
18 Resolution A.1091(99).
19 LEG 106/16 section 7.1 and Annexes 1 and 2 and section 13; LEG.1/Circ.10.
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M. Jacobsson
16 and Guidelines on fair treatment of
seafarers in the event of a maritime accident.
17 Reference should also be made to
the Guidelines on the preservation and collection of evidence following an allegation
of a serious crime having taken place on board a ship or following a report of a
missing person from a ship, and pastoral and medical care of persons affected, which
had been developed by the Legal Committee and were adopted by the Assembly in
2003.
18 In 2019 the Committee prepared a draft Resolution on measures to prevent
the fraudulent registration and fraudulent registries of ships for consideration by the
IMO Assembly, and it adopted a recommendation on best practices to assist in
combatting such fraudulent actions. In 2019 the Committee further decided to
consider the possible development of a unified interpretation of the test for breaking
the shipowner's right to limitation of liability under the IMO liability conventions.
19
The Committee could also in the future make valuable contributions to the development of “soft law” in the maritime field.
The above-mentioned IMO Assembly Resolutions that establish criteria for the
adoption of new conventions and amendments to existing ones apply not only to the
Legal Committee but also to other IMO Committees. It is suggested, however, that
the character of the treaty instruments within the competence of the other Committees is somewhat different, in that these instruments to a large extent deal with
technical issues, in particular SOLAS, MARPOL and the FAL Convention. It will
most likely be necessary in the future to adopt amendments to these instruments
frequently in the light of experience and the development in the shipping industry.
Such amendments could to a large extent be adopted through the tacit acceptance
procedure referred to above and would not therefore have to be submitted to a
Diplomatic Conference followed by ratification by States.
4 Proposals for the Development of Two New Treaties
Recently Brought Before the IMO Legal Committee
In recent years proposals have been submitted to the Legal Committee that it should
consider the elaboration of two new conventions, namely one on civil liability for oil
pollution resulting from offshore activities and the other on the recognition of
foreign judicial sales of ships. However, for reasons set out below, the Legal
Committee decided not to undertake the task of developing international conventions in these fields.
16 Resolution A.931(22).
17 Resolution LEG.3(91).
18 Resolution A.1091(99).
19 LEG 106/16 section 7.1 and Annexes 1 and 2 and section 13; LEG.1/Circ.10.
262
M. Jacobsson