Hovercraft (Civil Liability) Order 1979
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1979/305 |
| Year | 1979 |
1979 No. 305
HOVERCRAFT
The Hovercraft (Civil Liability) Order 197914thMarch 1979
1stApril 1979
ARRANGEMENT OF ORDER
Article
1. Citation and Operation
2. Interpretation and revocation
3. Liability for carriage of passengers and baggage
4. Liability for goods on board hovercraft
5. Vehicles not to be treated as baggage
6. Overall Limitation of Liability
7. Application of the Maritime Conventions Act 1911
8. Application of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947
9. Previous Occurrences
10. Schedule for convenience of reference
SCHEDULES
No. of Schedule
1. Liability for Carriage of Passengers and Baggage
Part I—A. Modifications of The Carriage by Air Act 1961
B. Modifications of The Carriage by Air Act 1961, Schedules
Part II—A. Modifications of The Carriage by Air (Supplementary Provisions) Act 1962
B. Modifications of The Carriage by Air (Supplementary Provisions) Act 1962, Schedule
2. Liability for Goods on board Hovercraft
A. Application of The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971
B. Application of The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, Schedule
3. Overall limitation of liability
A. Modifications of Part VIII of The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 as amended by the Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and Others) Act 1958
B. Modifications of The Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and Others) Act 1958
4. The modified enactments set out for convenience of reference:
(1) The statutes applied and modified by Schedule 1
(2) The statutes applied and modified by Schedule 2
(3) The statutes applied and modified by Schedule 3
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 14th day of March 1979
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas a draft of this Order has been laid before Parliament and has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament in accordance with section 1(4) of the Hovercraft Act 1968(a).
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by section 1(1)(h) and (i) as amended(b), and section 1(3)(f) and (g) of the Hovercraft Act 1968, and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
Citation and Operation
1. This Order may be cited as the Hovercraft (Civil Liability) Order 1979 and shall come into operation on 1st April 1979.
Interpretation and revocation
2.—(1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires, "navigable water" means any water which is in fact navigable by ships or vessels, whether or not the tide ebbs and flows there, and whether or not there is a public right of navigation in that water.
(2) The Hovercraft (Civil Liability) Order 1971(c) is hereby revoked.
Liability for carriage of passengers and baggage
3. The Carriage by Air Act 1961(d), as amended(e) and the Carriage by Air (Supplementary Provisions) Act 1962(f) shall apply subject to the modifications set out in Schedule 1 to this Order in relation to the carriage of passengers and their baggage by hovercraft as they apply in relation to the carriage of passengers and their baggage by air.
Liability for goods on board hovercraft
4. Subject to Article 6, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 shall apply, subject to the modifications set out in Schedule 2 to this Order, in relation to the carriage of goods by hovercraft (other than passengers' baggage) as it applies in relation to goods on board or carried by ship.
(a) 1968 c. 59.
(b) 1968 c. 59. s. 1(1)(i) was amended by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 (c. 19), s. 6(3).
(c) S.I. 1971/720.
(d) 1961 c. 27.
(e) See 1963 c. 47; 1964 c. 1 (N.I.); 1978 c. 47.
(f) 1962 c. 43.
Vehicles not to be treated as baggage
5. The enactments applied by this Order shall apply with the further modifications that—
(a) a vehicle and its contents shall not be treated as baggage; and
(b) subject to the foregoing, any property of which the passenger takes charge himself shall be treated as baggage.
Overall Limitation of Liability
6. Part VIII of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894(a) and the Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and Others) Act 1958(b) shall apply, subject to the modifications set out in Schedule 3 to this Order, in relation to—
(a) personal injury (including loss of life);
(b) loss of or damage to property,
caused to a person or to property (except passengers or baggage carried by the hovercraft) by an act or omission of any person (whether on board the hovercraft or not) in the navigation or management of a hovercraft, in the loading, carriage or discharge of its cargo or in the embarkation, carriage or disembarkation of its passengers, or through any other act or omission of any person on board the hovercraft, as they apply in relation to injury, loss, damage and infringement of rights caused in the navigation or management of a ship:
Provided that the aforesaid provisions shall not apply unless at the time of the incident causing the damage the hovercraft was on or over navigable water, or on or over the foreshore, or place where the tide normally ebbs and flows, or was proceeding between navigable water and a hoverport, or was on or over a hoverport either preparing for or after such transit.
Application of the Maritime Conventions Act 1911
7. Sections 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9(4) of the Maritime Conventions Act 1911(c) shall apply as if references therein to vessels included references to hovercraft.
Application of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947
8.—(1) Section 5(1) of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947(d) shall apply in relation to hovercraft in the circumstances described in Article 6 of this Order subject to the following modifications:—
(i) for "ships" wherever it appears, there shall be substituted "hovercraft";
(ii) For "1940" there shall be substituted "1970";
(iii) After the word "Acts" where it secondly appears there shall be inserted the words "as applied to hovercraft".
(2) Sections 6 and 30 of the said Act of 1947 shall apply in the case of hovercraft as they apply in the case of vessels.
(3) The said sections 5(1), 6 and 30 as extended to Northern Ireland by virtue of the Northern Ireland (Crown Proceedings) Order 1949(e) shall also apply in relation to hovercraft in the circumstances described, and subject to the same modifications as in paragraphs (1) and (2) above.
(a) 1894 c. 60.
(b) 1958 c.62.
(c) 1911 c. 57.
(d) 1947 c. 44.
(e) S.I. 1949/1836.
Previous Occurrences
9. This Order shall not apply so as to affect rights or liabilities arising out of an occurrence before it comes into operation.
Schedule for convenience of reference
10. For convenience of reference the enactments applied by Articles 3, 4 and 6 of this Order are set out in Schedule 4 to this Order with the modifications made in them by this Order.
N. E. Leigh, Clerk of the Privy Council.
Article 3
SCHEDULE 1
LIABILITY FOR CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS AND BAGGAGE
PART I
MODIFICATIONS OF THE CARRIAGE BY AIR ACT 1961
The following are the modifications of the Carriage by Air Act 1961 referred to in Article 3 of this Order.
A. The Act, other than the Schedules
(1) The following shall be substituted for section 1(1):
"The First Schedule to this Act shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have effect in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage by hovercraft."
(2) Section 1, sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) shall not apply.
(3) Section 2 shall not apply.
(4) The following shall be substituted for section 3:—
"3. References in section 1 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976(a), as it applies in England and Wales, and in Article 3(1) of the Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977(b), to a wrongful act, neglect or default shall include references to any occurrence which gives rise to a liability under Article 17 in the First Schedule to this Act."
(5) Section 4(1)(a) (which applies only to Scotland(c)) shall not apply.
(6) Section 4(4) shall not apply.
(7) In section 5(1) for "the Convention" there shall be substituted "the First Schedule to this Act", and for "aircraft" there shall be substituted "hovercraft".
(8) Section 5(2) in its application to Scotland shall have effect in the same form as it applies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland(d).
(9) Sections 7 to 10 shall not apply.
(10) Section 11(a)(ii) (which applies only to Scotland) shall not apply.
(11) Section 14(1) shall not apply.
(12) In section 14(2) the words in brackets shall be omitted.
(13) Section 14(3) shall not apply.
(a) 1976 c. 30 (which repeals and re-enacts section 1 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1846 c. 93).
(b) See S.I. 1977/1251, Schedule 1 paragraph 5.
(c) See 1978 c. 47, Schedule 1, paragraph 5(1).
(d) See 1978 c. 47, Schedule 1, paragraph 5(2).
B. The Schedules to the Act
(1) For "this Convention", wherever it appears, there shall be substituted "this Schedule".
(2) For "air" and "aircraft", wherever they appear, there shall be substituted "hovercraft".
(3) For "aerodrome", wherever it appears, there shall be substituted "hoverport".
(4) For "passengers, baggage or cargo", wherever it appears, there shall be substituted "passengers or baggage"; and from the expression "baggage or cargo", wherever it appears, "or cargo" shall be omitted.
(5) In Article 1(1), "international" shall be omitted.
(6) Article 1(2) and (3) shall not apply.
(7) In Article 2(1) for "by the State or by legally constituted public bodies" there shall be substituted "by the Crown".
(8) Article 2(2) shall not apply.
(9) Chapter II shall not apply.
(10) In Article 18(1) for "any registered baggage or any cargo" there shall be substituted "any baggage, other than that which the passenger takes charge of himself,".
(11) Article 18(2) shall not apply.
(12) In Article 18(3), after "carriage" where it secondly appears, for "by land, by sea or by river", there shall be substituted "not by hovercraft".
(13) In Article 20 for "necessary" there shall be substituted "reasonable".
(14) In Article 22(1), for "two hundred and fifty thousand francs", wherever they appear, there shall be...
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