PROTOCOL OF 1979 AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THEUNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES OF LAW RELATING TO BILLS OF LADING (ASAMENDED BY THE PROTOCOL OF 1968), 1924
PROTOCOL OF 1979 AMENDING THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THEUNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES OF LAW RELATING TO BILLS OF LADING (ASAMENDED BY THE PROTOCOL OF 1968), 1924
Whole document
THE CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE PRESENT PROTOCOL,
BEING PARTIES to the International Convention for the unification of
certain rules of law relating to bills of lading, done at Brussels on
August 25, 1924, as amended by the Protocol to amend that Convention done
at Brussels on February 23, 1968,
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Article I
For the purpose of this Protocol, "Convention" means the International
Convention for the unification of certain rules of law relating to Bills
of Lading and its Protocol of signature, done at Brussels on August 25,
1924, as amended by the Protocol, done at Brussels on February 23, 1968.
Article II
1. Article 4, paragraph 5(a) of the Convention is replaced by the
following:
"(a) Unless the nature and value of such goods have been declared
by the shipper before shipment and inserted in the Bill of Lading, neither
the carrier nor the ship shall in any event be or become liable for any
loss or damage to or in connection with the goods in an amount exceeding
666.67 units of account per package or unit or 2 units of account per
kilogramme of gross weight of the goods lost or damaged, whichever is the
higher."
2. Article 4, paragraph 5(d) of the Convention is replaced by the
following:
"(d) The unit of account mentioned in this Article is the Special
Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The amounts
mentioned in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall be converted into
national currency on the basis of the value of that currency on the date
to be determined by the law of the Court seized of the case. The value of
the national currency, in terms of the Special Drawing Right, of a State
which is a member of the International Monetary Fund, shall be calculated
in accordance with the method of valuation applied by the International
Monetary Fund in effect at the date in question for its operations and
transactions. The value of the national currency, in terms of the Special
Drawing Right, of a State which is not a member of the International
Monetary Fund, shall be calculated in a manner determined by that State.
Nevertheless, a State which is not a member of the International
Monetary Fund and whose law does not permit the application of the
provisions of the preceding sentences may, at the time of notification of
the Protocol of 1979 or accession thereto or at any time thereafter,
declare that the limits of liability provided for in this Convention to be
applied in its territory shall be fixed as follows:
(i) in respect of the amount of 666.67 units of account mentioned
in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5 of this Article, 10,000 monetary units;
(ii) in respect of the amount of 2 units of account mentioned in
subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5 of this Article, 30 monetary units.
The monetary unit referred to in the preceding sentence corresponds to
65.5 milligrams of gold of millesimal fineness 900. The conversion of the
amounts specified in that sentence into the national currency shall be
made according to the law of the State concerned. The calculation and the
conversion mentioned in the preceding sentences shall be made in such a
manner as to express in the national currency of that State as far as
possible the same real value for the amounts in subparagraph (a) of
paragraph 5 of this Article as is expressed there in units of account.
States shall communicate to the depositary the manner of calculation
or the result of the conversion as the case may be, when depositing an
instrument of ratification of the Protocol of 1979 or of accession thereto
and whenever there is a change in either.
Article III
Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the
interpretation or application of the present Protocol, which cannot be
settled through negotiation, shall, at the request of one of them, be
submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the
request for arbitration the Parties are unable to agree on the
organisation of the arbitration any one of those Parties may refer the
dispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformity
with the Statute of the Court.
Article IV
(1) Each Contracting Party may at the time of signature or
ratification of this Protocol or of accession thereto, declare that it
does not consider itself bound by Article III.
(2) Any Contracting Party having made a reservation in accordance with
paragraph (1) may at any time withdraw this reservation by notification
to the Belgian Government.
Article V
This Protocol shall be open for signature by the States which have
signed the Convention of 25 August 1924 or the Protocol of 23 February
1968 or which are Parties to the Convention.
Article VI
(1) This Protocol shall be ratified.
(2) Ratification of this Protocol by any State which is not a Party to
the Convention shall have the effect of ratification of the Convention.
(3) The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the
Belgian Government.
Article VII
(1) States not referred to in Article V may accede to this Protocol.
(2) Accession to this Protocol shall have the effect of accession to
the Convention.
(3) The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Belgian
Government.
Article VIII
(1) This Protocol shall come into force three months after the date of
the deposit of five instruments of ratification or accession.
(2) For each State which ratifies this Protocol or accedes thereto
after the fifth deposit, this Protocol shall come into force three months
after the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession.
Article IX
(1) Any Contracting Party may denounce this Protocol by notification
to the Belgian Government.
(2) The denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on
which the notification has been received by the Belgian Government.
Article X
(1) Each State may at the time of signature, ratification or accession
or at any time thereafter declare by written notification to the Belgian
Government which among the territories for whose international relations
it is responsible, are those to which the present Protocol applies. The
Protocol shall three months after the date of the receipt of such
notification by the Belgian Government extend to the territories named
therein, but not before the date of the coming into force of the Protocol
in respect of such State.
(2) This extension also shall apply to the Convention if the latter is
not yet applicable to these territories.
(3) Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph
(1) of this Article may at any time thereafter declare by notification
given to the Belgian Government that the Protocol shall cease to extend to
such territories. This denunciation shall take effect one year after the
date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian
Government.
Article XI
The Belgian Government shall notify the signatory and acceding States
of the following:
1. the signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance
with Articles V, VI and VII.
2. the date on which the present Protocol will come into force in
accordance with Article VIII.
3. the notifications with regard to the territorial application in
accordance with Article X.
4. the declarations and communications made in accordance with Article
II.
5. the declarations made in accordance with Article IV.
6. the denunciations received in accordance with Article IX.
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