Marginal note:Powers of Admiralty Court

• 33. (1) Where a claim is made or apprehended against a person in respect of liability that is limited by section 28 or 29 of this Act or paragraph 1 of Article 6 or 7 of the Convention, the Admiralty Court, on application by that person or any other interested person, including a person who is a party to proceedings in relation to the same subject-matter before another court, tribunal or authority, may take any steps it considers appropriate, including

  • (a) determining the amount of the liability and providing for the constitution and distribution of a fund under Articles 11 and 12 of the Convention;

  • (b) joining interested persons as parties to the proceedings, excluding any claimants who do not make a claim within a certain time, requiring security from the person claiming limitation of liability or from any other interested person and requiring the payment of any costs; and

  • (c) enjoining any person from commencing or continuing proceedings in any court, tribunal or authority other than the Admiralty Court in relation to the same subject-matter.

• Marginal note:Court may postpone distribution

  (2) In providing for the distribution of a fund under paragraph (1)(a) in relation to any liability, the Admiralty Court may, having regard to any claim that may subsequently be established before a court, tribunal or other authority outside Canada in respect of that liability, postpone the distribution of any part of the fund that it considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Lien and other rights

  (3) No lien or other right in respect of a ship or other property affects the proportions in which a fund is distributed by the Admiralty Court.

• Marginal note:Procedural matters

  (4) The Admiralty Court may

  • (a) make any rule of procedure it considers appropriate with respect to proceedings before it under this section; and

  • (b) determine what form of guarantee it considers to be adequate for the purposes of paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Convention.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (5) For the purposes of Article 11 of the Convention, interest is payable at the rate prescribed under the Income Tax Act for amounts payable by the Minister of National Revenue as refunds of overpayments of tax under that Act.

Marginal note:Release of ships, etc.

• 34. (1) Where a ship or other property is released under paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the Convention, in any case other than one in which a fund has been constituted in a place described in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that Article, the person who applied for the release is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court that ordered the release for the purpose of determining the claim.

• Marginal note:Limitation fund in state other than Canada

  (2) In considering whether to release a ship or other property referred to in subsection (1), the court shall not have regard to a limitation fund constituted in a country other than Canada unless the court is satisfied that the country is a State Party to the Convention.

PART 4LIABILITY FOR CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS BY WATER

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

35. The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

“Convention”

« Convention »

“Convention” means the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974, concluded at Athens on December 13, 1974, as amended by the Protocol, Articles 1 to 22 of which Convention are set out in Part 1 of Schedule 2.

“Protocol”

« Protocole »

“Protocol” means the Protocol of 1990 to amend the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974, concluded at London on March 29, 1990, Articles III and VIII of which are set out in Part 2 of Schedule 2.

Marginal note:Extended meaning of expressions

• 36. (1) For the purposes of this Part and Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention,

  • (a) the definition “ship” in Article 1 of the Convention shall be read as including any vessel or craft designed, used or capable of being used solely or partly for navigation, without regard to method or lack of propulsion and whether seagoing or not, but not including an air cushion vehicle; and

  • (b) in the definition “contract of carriage” in Article 1 of the Convention, the expression “carriage by sea” shall be read as “carriage by water”.

• Marginal note:Owners of ships

  (2) For greater certainty, in the application of the Convention under this Part, Article 19 of the Convention applies to owners of all ships, whether seagoing or not.

Application

Marginal note:Force of law

• 37. (1) Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention have the force of law in Canada.

• Marginal note:Extended application

  (2) Articles 1 to 22 of the Convention also apply in respect of

  • (a) the carriage by water, under a contract of carriage, of passengers or of passengers and their luggage from one place in Canada to the same or another place in Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada; and

  • (b) the carriage by water, otherwise than under a contract of carriage, of persons or of persons and their luggage, excluding

    • (i) the master of a ship, a member of a ship’s crew or any other person employed or engaged in any capacity on board a ship on the business of the ship, and

    • (ii) a person carried on board a ship other than a ship operated for a commercial or public purpose.

Marginal note:State Party to the Convention

38. For purposes of the application of the Convention, Canada is a State Party to the Convention.

Regulations and Orders

Marginal note:Regulations

39. The Governor in Council may make regulations requiring insurance or other financial security to be maintained to cover liability to passengers under this Part.

Marginal note:Amendment of limits

40. The Governor in Council may, by order, declare that an amendment made in accordance with Article VIII of the Protocol to any of the limits of liability specified in paragraph 1 of Article 7 or in Article 8 of the Convention, including the deductibles referred to in Article 8, has the force of law in Canada.

PART 5LIABILITY FOR CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY WATER

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

41. The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

“Hague-Visby Rules”

« règles de La Haye-Visby »

“Hague-Visby Rules” means the rules set out in Schedule 3 and embodied in the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading, concluded at Brussels on August 25, 1924, in the Protocol concluded at Brussels on February 23, 1968, and in the additional Protocol concluded at Brussels on December 21, 1979.

“Hamburg Rules”

« règles de Hambourg »

“Hamburg Rules” means the rules set out in Schedule 4 and embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978, concluded at Hamburg on March 31, 1978.

Marginal note:Other statutory limitations of liability

42. Nothing in this Part affects the operation of any other Part of this Act, or sections 389, 390, 585 and 586 of the Canada Shipping Act, or a provision of any other Act or regulation that limits the liability of owners of ships.

Hague-Visby Rules

Marginal note:Effect

• 43. (1) The Hague-Visby Rules have the force of law in Canada in respect of contracts for the carriage of goods by water between different states as described in Article X of those Rules.

• Marginal note:Extended application

  (2) The Hague-Visby Rules also apply in respect of contracts for the carriage of goods by water from one place in Canada to another place in Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada, unless there is no bill of lading and the contract stipulates that those Rules do not apply.

• Marginal note:Meaning of “Contracting State”

  (3) For the purposes of this section, the expression “Contracting State” in Article X of the Hague-Visby Rules includes Canada and any state that, without being a Contracting State, gives the force of law to the rules embodied in the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading, concluded at Brussels on August 25, 1924 and in the Protocol concluded at Brussels on February 23, 1968, regardless of whether that state gives the force of law to the additional Protocol concluded at Brussels on December 21, 1979.

• Marginal note:Replacement by Hamburg Rules

  (4) The Hague-Visby Rules do not apply in respect of contracts entered into after the coming into force of section 45.

Hamburg Rules

Marginal note:Report to Parliament

44. The Minister shall, before January 1, 2005 and every five years afterwards, consider whether the Hague-Visby Rules should be replaced by the Hamburg Rules and cause a report setting out the results of that consideration to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Marginal note:Effect

• 45. (1) The Hamburg Rules have the force of law in Canada in respect of contracts for the carriage of goods by water between different states as described in Article 2 of those Rules.

• Marginal note:Extended application

  (2) The Hamburg Rules also apply in respect of contracts for the carriage of goods by water from one place in Canada to another place in Canada, either directly or by way of a place outside Canada, unless the contract stipulates that those Rules do not apply.

• Marginal note:Meaning of “Contracting State”

  (3) For the purposes of this section, the expression “Contracting State” in Article 2 of the Hamburg Rules includes Canada and any state that gives the force of law to those Rules without being a Contracting State to the United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978.

• Marginal note:References to “sea”

  (4) For the purposes of this section, the word “sea” in the Hamburg Rules shall be read as “water”.

• Marginal note:Signatures

  (5) For the purposes of this section, paragraph 3 of article 14 of the Hamburg Rules applies in respect of the documents referred to in article 18 of those Rules.