Now also available as
eBook
Too many oil spills have given dramatic evidence of the inadequacy of
international conventions designed to prevent and/or compensate for maritime
pollution damage. In the light of the ecological disaster caused by such
incidents and the huge economic consequences for the population of the zones
affected, various concerned parties around the world are deeply committed to
the goals of optimizing legal mechanisms to prevent and deter maritime
pollution incidents as well as providing better and more efficient
compensation of victims. One of the more notable conferences dedicated to this
purpose was sponsored by the Institute of International Maritime Law of Dalian
Maritime University in conjunction with the Maastricht European Institute for
Transnational Legal Research in June 2009. This important book is a record of
that conference.
Twenty-nine authors – academics, lawyers and officials of relevant agencies,
from China, Europe and the United States – here offer thorough analysis of the
overt and underlying legal issues with which this difficult matter is fraught,
including the following:
• imposition of financial caps;
• competence of authorities;
• criminal sanctions for non-compliance;
• parties to criminal liability;
• territorial scope of state police power;
• relevance and application of the public trust doctrine;
• carriage of dangerous substances by sea;
• fair treatment of seafarers;
• role of the ‘protection and indemnity clubs’;
• monitoring and inspections of ships as an aspect of criminal law; and
• insurance coverage for fines.
The approach throughout is both legal multi-disciplinary and comparative. The
relevant international conventions are examined (particularly the ‘Bunker
Convention’ of 2008), with particular attention to their implementation in
China and Europe, as well as the independent US regime. In addition, detailed
empirical data from well-known case studies provide important insights into
the working of international and national prevention and compensation
mechanisms.
Through a critical review of the current structure of prevention and
compensation for oil pollution damage, this book opens the door to a further
restructuring of conventions (or national legislation), clarifying the
dimensions of the crucial discussion about of how an optimal enforcement of
oil pollution legislation can be achieved and who should bear the costs. It
will be hugely valuable to policymakers and practitioners dealing with this
most daunting and urgent of international legal problems.
Reviews:
"This is a lively and enjoyable collection of papers and an
illuminating review of the considerable difficulties that China will face
implementing key liability conventions in future years."
Dr. Richard Caddell in IUCN Academy of Environmental Law eJournal 2011(1)