CCQ, r. 9 - Regulation respecting the liability of carriers by water

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter CCQ, r. 9

Regulation respecting the liability of carriers by water

Civil Code of Québec

(Civil Code, art. 2074).

1. A carrier by water is liable for any loss of the property carried up to the sum fixed in accordance with sub-paragraphs a to d of paragraph 5 of Article IV of the Hague-Visby Rules embodied in the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading, done at Brussels on 25 August 1924, as amended by the Protocol done at Brussels on 23 February 1968 and the Protocol done at Brussels on 21 December 1979, as set out in the Schedule to this Regulation.

O.C. 704-94, s. 1.

2. (Omitted).

O.C. 704-94, s. 2.

SCHEDULE

EXCERPT FROM THE HAGUE-VISBY RULES

(Article IV, paragraph 5, sub-paragraphs a to d)

5.

(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.

(b) The total amount recoverable shall be calculated by reference to the value of such goods at the place and time at which the goods are discharged from the ship in accordance with the contract or should have been so discharged.

The value of the goods shall be fixed according to the commodity exchange price, or, if there be no such price, according to the current market price, or, if there be no commodity exchange price or current market price, by reference to the normal value of goods of the same kind and quality.

(c) Where a container, pallet or similar article of transport is used to consolidate goods, the number of packages or units enumerated in the bill of lading as packed in such article of transport shall be deemed the number of packages or units for the purpose of this paragraph as far as these packages or units are concerned. Except as aforesaid such article of transport shall be considered the package or unit.

(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 sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph shall be converted into national currency on the basis of the value 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 ratification 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 sub-paragraph a of paragraph 5 of this Article, 10,000 monetary units;

ii. in respect of the amount of 2 units of account mentioned in sub-paragraph a of paragraph 5 of this Article, 30 monetary units.

The monetary unit referred to in the preceding sentence corresponds to 65.5 milligrammes 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 sub-paragraph 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 or of accession thereto and whenever there is a change in either.

O.C. 704-94, Sch.

REFERENCES

O.C. 704-94, 1994 G.O. 2, 1944