Private Law of Ship-Source Oil Pollution: The Legal Regimes of Pakistan and China in Comparative Perspective
Keywords:
Ship Pollution, Marine Environment, Maritime Law, Law of the Sea, China, Pakistan.Abstract
Ship-source pollution is a maritime menace which continues to harm the marine environment and also cause damage to persons and property, in particular, in the happening of a serious oil spill. The international law governing such pollution is almost entirely contained in conventions addressing both the private and the public maritime law. The primary and the most important intend of this paper is to address the private law side of the ship-source pollution equation focusing on a comparative analysis of the legal regimes of Pakistan, a common law jurisdiction, and China which belongs to the civil law tradition. Incidentally, both states are parties to the Civil Liability Convention, 1992 (CLC) but whereas China is also a party to the Bunkers Convention, 2001, Pakistan is not. Neither of the two states is a party to the Fund Convention, 1992 but Pakistan is looking to enter that convention. China operates its own national fund to provide compensation to pollution victims who remain uncompensated under the CLC 1992 scheme. Also, neither state is a party to the HNS Convention of 1996 modified by its 2010 Protocol. This paper provides an overview of the liability and compensation regimes of both states pursuant to the CLC 1992 and examines the national legislation of both states in comparative perspective. In conclusion, lacunae in the law of both jurisdictions are pointed out and commensurate proposals for improvement and refinement of their legal regimes are made.
References
Ambec, S., & Ehlers, L., (2016). Regulation via the Polluter‐pays Principle, the Economic Journal, 126, (593), 884–906. Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12184.
Arness, Frank F., (1972). Error in Navigation or Management of Vessels: A Definitional Dilemma, William & Mary Law Review, 13 (3), 1971-1972.
Article III, paragraph 3, Article V paragraph 2, International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), 1969.
Available at https://www.dawn.com/news/402048/convention-on-civil-liability-ratified-oil-pollution-damages.
Available at www.https://dgps.gov.pk/
Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, 1991.
Dr. Abid, A., khalid, Y., Faizan, K., (2022). Admiralty Practices in Pakistan: Myths and Realities, Journal of Development and Social Sciences, 3 (3), 381-390. Available at https://doi.org/10.47205/jdss.2022(3-III)37.
EIEC (2003). Environment Impact Evaluation Committee (EIEC). Preliminary Report on Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Pakistan EPA and UNDP, Islamabad, 1-65.
Finder, Susan. (1993). The Supreme People’s Court of People’s Republic of China, Journal of Chinese Law, 7, 145.
Gutiérrez, N. A.M. (2016). The IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law: Volume II Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law, 20-23. Available at http:// DOI 10.1093/law/9780199683932.001.0001.
Humayun A., Zafar N., (2014). Pakistan's ‘Blue Economy’: Potential and Prospects, Policy Perspectives, 11, (1), 57-76. Available at https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.11.1.0057
Hussain, S., Dr. Khan, M.A., Dr. Rehman, A., (2014). ROLE OF MARITIME SECTOR IN PAKISTAN’S ECONOMIC AND SECURITY DEVELOPMENT, Pakistan Annual Research Journal, 50, 71.
International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading, 1924 (The Hague Rules).
International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001.
International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), 1992.
International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996, modified by its Protocol of 2010.
International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (FUND), 1992.
Li Y., (2021). Evolution and issues of marine pollution law in China: From 1970s to 2018, International Journal of Legal Disclosure, Available at https://doi.org/10.1515/ijld-2018-2012.
Lun, Y.H.V., Lai, K.H., Cheng, T.C.E. (2010). Shipping and Logistics Management, Springer London, 1-15. Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-997-8.
Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, 1982.
Mukherjee, (2010). Liability and Compensation for Environmental Damage Caused by Ship-Source Pollution: Actionability of Claims in Michael G. Faure, Han Lixin & Shan Hongjun (Eds.) Marine Pollution Liability and Policy: China, Europe and the U.S.,The Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer, 75-95.
NRDA (Natural Resource Damage Assessment, 2004). National Report on Impact of Tasman Spirit Oil Spill Pakistan EPA / UNDP, Islamabad and Sindh EPA, 1- 261.
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Act, 1994.
Part XII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.
Pham Van Tan (2019). Civil liability for oil pollution damage caused by ships: Chinese legal system and reference to Vietnam, Cogent Business & Management, 6:1, Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2019.1699285.
Qayyum, S. and Zhu, W. (2018). An Overview of International and Regional Laws for the Prevention of Marine Oil Pollution and “International Obligation of Pakistan”. Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences, 47 (03), 529-539.
Rana, A. A., & Siddique, H. M. (2021). The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018: A Shariah appraisal of self-perceived gender identity and right of inheritance of the transgender. Competitive Educational Research Journal (CERJ), 2(4), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4145921
Rubab, G., Kazmi, J., Zamir, U. (2014). Evaluating the Role Of GIS And RS In Delineating Biologically Sensitive Zones At Karachi Coast: A Case Study Of Tasman Oil Spill. International Journal of Biology and Biotechnology, 11, 2 (3), 261-271.
Sadeleer, N., de., (2002). Environmental Principles: From Political Slogans to Legal Rules, Oxford Academic Books, 21-60. Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199254743.003.01
Saifullah, S. M., and Chaghtai F. (2005). Effect of Tasman Spirit Oil Spill on Marine Plants in the Coastal Area of Karachi. International Journal of Biology and Technology, 2 (2), 299-306.
Section 568 of Chapter 43 of Part XIV of the Pakistan Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001
Sections 540, 541 of Pakistan Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001.
Sherazi, S. (2022). MECHANISM OF MARINE POLLUTION - THE CASE OF PAKISTAN. Journal of Nautical Eye and Strategic Studies, 2(2), 38–55. Available at https://ojs.mul.edu.pk/index.php/J-NESS/article/view/184.
Shu H., (2020). Study on the mechanism of compensation fund system for shipping oil pollution damage in China and international oil pollution compensation funds, Maritime commons: The Digital Repository of World Maritime University, 2-5.
Silk Mitchell A., (1985). China's Marine Environmental Protection Law: The Dragon Creeping in Murky Waters, Review of Socialist Law, 11, 249-273. Available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56353826.pdf
Special Maritime Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, 2000.
Tort Law of the People’s Republic of China, 2009.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1989 (UNCLOS); Basel Convention on the Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes, 1989; International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 and other Protocols; International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974; Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972 and its Protocol of 1996.
Walsh, C., Lazarou, N. J., Traut, M., (2019) Trade and trade-offs: Shipping in changing climates, Marine Policy, 106, 2-5. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103537.
Wijnolst, N., Wergeland, T., Levander K., (2009). Shipping Innovation, IOS Press, 6.
Yu, Minna & Mukherjee, Proshanto K. (2021). Ship-Source Pollution: An Analytical Review of Correlations between UNCLOS Part XII Provisions and IMO Conventions. Journal of International Maritime Law, 27, 117.
Zhang Taisu (2012). The Pragmatic Court: Reinterpreting the Supreme People’s Court of China, Columbia Journal of Asian Law, 25, (1), 2-13.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Saira Bashir Dar, Proshanto K. Mukherjee
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
LEGALOPEDIA EDUCATINIA (PVT) LTD