Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/zpfz.74.3.2
Should the Republic of Croatia Ratify the 2010 International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea?
Dorotea Ćorić
orcid.org/0000-0002-7080-7972
; Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Iva Tuhtan Grgić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2155-3459
; Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
The international liability regime for damage caused by marine pollution from ships is not yet complete, as the 2010 International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea has not yet entered into force. The Convention has been ratified by eight countries and another three countries have taken significant steps in completing the final preparations for its ratification, so it is expected that the Convention will have 12 states parties in the near future, thus meeting the requirements for entry into force. The increase in the trafficking of hazardous and noxious substances by sea and the increased risks posed by such trafficking certainly call for an assessment of the need to ratify this Convention for all countries, and especially for those countries whose economy is based on income from coastal tourism, such as the Republic of Croatia. The paper highlights the fragmented regulation of this matter in Croatian national law and offers solutions, the application of which would guarantee adequate, prompt and effective compensation for all damages caused by the transport of hazardous and noxious substances by sea. The Convention provides for a two-tier liability system: in addition to the shipowner, the HNS Fund is responsible in the second tier. The authors strongly believe that the Republic of Croatia should start with the preparatory actions to be carried out prior to the ratification of the Convention, concerning the establishment of a reporting system on the recipients of goods and the amount of goods subject to the payment of contributions to the Fund, and then ratify the Convention.
Keywords
civil liability for damage; HNS; maritime transport; hazardous and noxious substances; ratification of the Convention
Hrčak ID:
321042
URI
Publication date:
30.9.2024.
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