Council Decision of 12 December 2011 concerning the accession of the European Union to the Protocol of 2002 to the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974, with the exception of Articles 10 and 11 thereof (2012/22/EU)

Article 23 Amendment of limits

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 22, the special procedure in this Article shall apply solely for the purposes of amending the limits set out in Article 3, paragraph 1, Article 4bis, paragraph 1, Article 7, paragraph 1 and Article 8 of the Convention as revised by this Protocol.

2. Upon the request of at least one half, but in no case less than six, of the States Parties to this Protocol, any proposal to amend the limits, including the deductibles, specified in Article 3, paragraph 1, Article 4bis, paragraph 1, Article 7, paragraph 1, and Article 8 of the Convention as revised by this Protocol shall be circulated by the Secretary-General to all Members of the Organization and to all States Parties.

3. Any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall be submitted to the Legal Committee of the Organization (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Legal Committee’) for consideration at a date at least 6 months after the date of its circulation.

4. All States Parties to the Convention as revised by this Protocol, whether or not Members of the Organization, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Legal Committee for the consideration and adoption of amendments.

5. Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the Convention as revised by this Protocol present and voting in the Legal Committee expanded as provided for in paragraph 4, on condition that at least one half of the States Parties to the Convention as revised by this Protocol shall be present at the time of voting.

6. When acting on a proposal to amend the limits, the Legal Committee shall take into account the experience of incidents and, in particular, the amount of damage resulting therefrom, changes in the monetary values and the effect of the proposed amendment on the cost of insurance.

7. (a) No amendment of the limits under this Article may be considered less than 5 years from the date on which this Protocol was opened for signature nor less than 5 years from the date of entry into force of a previous amendment under this Article.

(b) No limit may be increased so as to exceed an amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in the Convention as revised by this Protocol increased by six per cent per year calculated on a compound basis from the date on which this Protocol was opened for signature.

(c) No limit may be increased so as to exceed an amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in the Convention as revised by this Protocol multiplied by three.

8. Any amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 5 shall be notified by the Organization to all States Parties. The amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted at the end of a period of eighteen months after the date of notification, unless within that period not less than one fourth of the States that were States Parties at the time of the adoption of the amendment have communicated to the Secretary-General that they do not accept the amendment, in which case the amendment is rejected and shall have no effect.

9. An amendment deemed to have been accepted in accordance with paragraph 8 shall enter into force eighteen months after its acceptance.

10. All States Parties shall be bound by the amendment, unless they denounce this Protocol in accordance with Article 21, paragraphs 1 and 2 at least 6 months before the amendment enters into force. Such denunciation shall take effect when the amendment enters into force.

11. When an amendment has been adopted but the eighteen-month period for its acceptance has not yet expired, a State which becomes a State Party during that period shall be bound by the amendment if it enters into force. A State which becomes a State Party after that period shall be bound by an amendment which has been accepted in accordance with paragraph 8. In the cases referred to in this paragraph, a State becomes bound by an amendment when that amendment enters into force, or when this Protocol enters into force for that State, if later.