Arrest Convention 1999

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In 1999, the final text of the International Convention on Arrest of Ships was concluded, and the Convention (generally known as the "Arrest Convention 1999") came into force on 14 September 2011.

The intent of the

1952 Convention
, and as of 2019 the 1999 Convention has 17 state parties. Countries ratifying 1999 Convention to date include: Albania, Algeria, Benin, Bulgaria, Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Liberia, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Spain, Syria and Turkey.

The new 1999 Convention follows the pattern of the 1952 Convention, but has a slightly less "Anglo-Saxon" bias. Although a signatory in 1999 to the final text, as of May 2015, the UK has yet to ratify the convention. [1] The convention broadly follows the scheme of the UK system currently enacted in the Senior Courts Act 1981 (formerly the "Supreme Court Act 1981"), with some important additions. The Senior Courts Act 1981 is broadly in line with the 1952 Brussels Convention.[2] While acknowledging the concept of maritime lien, the 1999 Convention specifically creates no new maritime liens.

Article 1 adds new categories of "Maritime Claim". These include "damage or threat of damage caused by the ship to the environment, coastline or related interests..." (Article 1(d)); and unpaid

insurance premiums and unpaid P&I Club calls.[2]

UK arrest procedure

Despite being a party to devising the text of the 1999 Convention, the UK has (as of April 2016) yet to ratify it, so the 1952 Convention still applies in Great Britain.

In the UK, a ship arrest is effected by an

arbitrator
.

One should distinguish between "arrest" and "detention"; the latter involves the detaining of a ship by a port using pre-existing powers of Port State Control or, in the case of a marina, simple contractual rights of lien.

External links

References

  1. ^ "An arresting development". Maritimeadvocate.com. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  2. ^ a b "04/11 Arrest Convention". shlegal.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Hill Dickinson : Arrest Regimes" (PDF). Hilldickinson.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-13. Retrieved 2015-06-12.