Overview

The previous chapters have dealt with the development of substantive pollution control standards, the allocation of state jurisdiction to prescribe and enforce these standards and compliance by target actors. The next relevant issue is that of liability following the occurrence of vessel-source pollution and the compensation of injured parties, be these states or their private citizens. The inquiry here relates to the civil liability of private actors; the questions of state liability will not be examined. ‘Liability’ thus refers to the conventional regime of civil liability facilitating the compensation of pollution damage victims by private, non-state interests, particularly the shipowner and his insurer. The issue of criminal liability under the national laws of states where pollution is suffered falls outside the present inquiry.

This chapter will thus examine the interests which influenced the negotiation of the relevant multilateral liability and compensation instruments, primarily the 1969 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (hereinafter ‘CLC 69’), the 1992 Protocol which created the 1992 Civil Liability Convention (hereinafter ‘CLC 92’), the 1971 International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (hereinafter ‘FUND 71’), the 1992 Protocol creating the 1992 FUND Convention (hereinafter ‘FUND 92’) and the 2003 Protocol to FUND 92. The relevant civil liability laws in the US as well as the voluntary compensation schemes developed by the shipping and oil industries will also be analysed.