Merchant Shipping Act 1974

Compensation for persons suffering pollution damage U.K.

4 Liability of the Fund. U.K.

(1) The Fund shall be liable for pollution damage in the United Kingdom if the person suffering the damage has been unable to obtain full compensation under section 1 of the Act of 1971 (which gives effect to the Liability Convention)—

(a) because the discharge or escape causing the damage—

(i) resulted from an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible phenomenon, or

(ii) was due wholly to anything done or left undone by another person (not being a servant or agent of the owner) with intent to do damage, or

(iii) was due wholly to the negligence or wrongful act of a government or other authority in exercising its function of maintaining lights or other navigational aids for the maintenance of which it was responsible,

(and because liability is accordingly wholly displaced by section 2 of the Act of 1971), or

(b) because the owner or guarantor liable for the damage cannot meet his obligations in full, or

(c) because the damage exceeds the liability under section 1 of the Act of 1971 as limited—

(i) by section 4 of the Act of 1971, . . . F1

(ii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

(2) Subsection (1) above shall apply with the substitution for the words “the United Kingdom” of the words “a Fund Convention country” where—

(a) the headquarters of the Fund is for the time being in the United Kingdom, and proceedings under the Liability Convention for compensation for the pollution damage have been brought in a country which is not a Fund Convention country, or

(b) the incident has caused pollution damage both in the United Kingdom and in another Fund Convention country, and proceedings under the Liability Convention for compensation for the pollution damage have been brought in a country which is not a Fund Convention country or in the United Kingdom.

(3) Where the incident has caused pollution damage both in the United Kingdom and in another country in respect of which the Liability Convention is in force, references in this section to the provisions of the Act of 1971 shall include references to the corresponding provisions of the law of any country giving effect to the Liability Convention.

(4) Where proceedings under the Liability Convention for compensation for pollution damage have been brought in a country which is not a Fund Convention country and the Fund is liable for that pollution damage by virtue of subsection (2)(a) above, references in this section to the provisions of the Act of 1971 shall be treated as references to the corresponding provisions of the law of the country in which those proceedings were brought.

(5) For the purposes of this section an owner or guarantor is to be treated as incapable of meeting his obligations if the obligations have not been met after all reasonable steps to pursue the legal remedies available have been taken.

(6) Expenses reasonably incurred, and sacrifices reasonably made, by the owner voluntarily to prevent or minimise pollution damage shall be treated as pollution damage for the purposes of this section, and accordingly he shall be in the same position with respect to claims against the Fund under this section as if he had a claim in respect of liability under section 1 of the Act of 1971.

(7) The Fund shall incur no obligation under this section if—

(a) it proves that the pollution damage—

(i) resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war or insurrection, or

(ii) was caused by oil which has escaped or been discharged from a warship or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, at the time of the occurrence, only on Government non-commercial service, or

(b) the claimant cannot prove that the damage resulted from an occurrence involving a ship identified by him, or involving two or more ships one of which is identified by him.

(8) If the Fund proves that the pollution damage resulted wholly or partly—

(a) from an act or omission done with intent to cause damage by the person who suffered the damage, or

(b) from the negligence of that person,

the Fund may be exonerated wholly or partly from its obligation to pay compensation to that person:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to a claim in respect of expenses or sacrifices made voluntarily to prevent or minimise pollution damage.

(9) Where the liability under section 1 of the Act of 1971 is limited to any extent by subsection (5) of that section (contributory negligence), the Fund shall be exonerated to the same extent.

(10) The Fund’s liability under this section shall be subject to the limits imposed by paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of Article 4 of the Fund Convention [F2 (as amended by Article III of the protocol dated 19th November 1976 to that convention)] which impose an overall liability on the liabilities of the owner and of the Fund, and the text of which is set out in Schedule 1 to this Act.

(11) Evidence of any instrument issued by any organ of the Fund or of any document in the custody of the Fund, or any entry in or extract from such a document, may be given in any legal proceedings by production of a copy certified as a true copy by an official of the Fund; and any document purporting to be such a copy shall be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person signing the certificate.

(12) For the purpose of giving effect to the said provisions of Article 4 of the Fund Convention a court giving judgment against the Fund in proceedings under this section shall notify the Fund, and—

(a) no steps shall be taken to enforce the judgment unless and until the court gives leave to enforce it,

(b) that leave shall not be given unless and until the Fund notifies the court either that the amount of the claim is not to be reduced under the said provisions of Article 4 of the Fund Convention, or that it is to be reduced to a specified amount, and

(c) in the latter case the judgment shall be enforceable only for the reduced amount.

[F3 (13) Any steps taken to obtain payment of an amount or a reduced amount in pursuance of such a judgment as is mentioned in subsection (12) above shall be steps to obtain payment in sterling; and—

(a) for the purpose of converting such an amount from special drawing rights into sterling one special drawing right shall be treated as equal to such a sum in sterling as the International Monetary Fund have fixed as being the equivalent of one special drawing right for—

(i) the day on which the judgment is given, or

(ii) if no sum has been so fixed for that day, the last day before that day for which a sum has been so fixed;

(b) a certificate given by or on behalf of the Treasury stating—

(i) that a particular sum in sterling has been so fixed for the day on which the judgment was given, or

(ii) that no sum has been so fixed for that day and that a particular sum in sterling has been so fixed for a day which is the last day for which a sum has been so fixed before the day on which the judgment was given,

shall be conclusive evidence of those matters for the purposes of this Act;

(c) a document purporting to be such a certificate shall, in any proceedings, be received in evidence and, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Word “or” and s. 4(1)(c)(ii) repealed by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), ss. 50(4), 52(2), Sch. 7 Pt. I

F2 Words inserted (22.11.1994) by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), ss. 38(4)(b), 52(2); S.I. 1994/2789, art. 2, Sch.

F3 S. 4(13) inserted (22.11.1994) by Merchant Shipping Act 1979 (c. 39), ss. 38(4)(c), 52(2); S.I. 1994/2789, art. 2, Sch.

Valid from 01/01/1996

F4 4A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.K.

Textual Amendments

F4 S. 4A repealed (1.1.1996) by 1995 c. 21, ss. 314(1), 316(2), Sch. 12 (with s. 312(1), Sch. 14 para. 1) and words in s. 4A(1) repealed (prosp.) by 1994 c. 28, ss. 5(2)(a), 10(4) (which amending Act was repealed (1.1.1996) by 1995 c. 21, s. 314(1), Sch. 12)