4. As between the States Parties to this Protocol, denunciation by any of them of the Convention in accordance with article 19 thereof shall not be construed in any way as a denunciation of the Convention as amended by this Protocol.

REVISION AND AMENDMENT

Article XIII

1. A conference for the purpose of revising or amending this Protocol may be convened by the Organization.

2. The Organization shall convene a conference of Contracting States to this Protocol for revising or amending it at the request of not less than one-third of the Contracting Parties.

AMENDMENT OF LIMITS

Article VIII

1. Upon the request of at least one half, but in no case less than six, of the States Parties to this Protocol, any proposal to amend the limits specified in article 6, paragraph 1, article 7, paragraph 1 and article 8, paragraph 2 of the Convention as amended by this Protocol shall be circulated by the Secretary-General to all Members of the Organization and to all Contracting States.

2. Any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall be submitted to the Legal Committee of the Organization (the Legal Committee) for consideration at a date at least six months after the date of its circulation.

3. All Contracting States to the Convention as amended by this Protocol, whether or not Members of the Organization, shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of the Legal Committee for the consideration and adoption of amendments.

4. Amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting States to the Convention as amended by this Protocol present and voting in the Legal Committee expanded as provided for in paragraph 3, on condition that at least one-half of the Contracting States to the Convention as amended by this Protocol shall be present at the time of voting.

5. When acting on a proposal to amend the limits, the Legal Committee shall take into account the experience of incidents and, in particular, the amount of damage resulting therefrom, changes in the monetary values and the effect of the proposed amendment on the cost of insurance.

6. (a) No amendment of the limits under this article may be considered less than five years from the date on which this Protocol was opened for signature nor less than five years from the date of entry into force of a previous amendment under this article.

(b) No limit may be increased so as to exceed an amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in the Convention as amended by this Protocol increased by six per cent per year calculated on a compound basis from the date on which this Protocol was opened for signature.

(c) No limit may be increased so as to exceed an amount which corresponds to the limit laid down in the Convention as amended by this Protocol multiplied by three.

7. Any amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 4 shall be notified by the Organization to all Contracting States. The amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted at the end of a period of eighteen months after the date of notification, unless within that period not less than one-fourth of the States that were Contracting States at the time of the adoption of the amendment have communicated to the Secretary-General that they do not accept the amendment, in which case the amendment is rejected and shall have no effect.

8. An amendment deemed to have been accepted in accordance with paragraph 7 shall enter into force eighteen months after its acceptance.

9. All Contracting States shall be bound by the amendment, unless they denounce this Protocol in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 12 at least six months before the amendment enters into force. Such denunciation shall take effect when the amendment enters into force.

10. When an amendment has been adopted but the eighteen-month period for its acceptance has not yet expired, a State which becomes a Contracting State during that period shall be bound by the amendment if it enters into force. A State which becomes a Contracting State after that period shall be bound by an amendment which has been accepted in accordance with paragraph 7. In the cases referred to in this paragraph, a State becomes bound by an amendment when that amendment enters into force, or when this Protocol enters into force for that State, if later.

The Russian Federation reserves the right, pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 18 of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976, amended by the Protocol of 1996, to exclude:

• (a) the provisions of subparagraphs (d) and (e) of paragraph 1 of article 2;
• (b) claims related to damage in the meaning of the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996, or any amendment or protocol related thereto.

Statement

The Russian Federation, pursuant to subparagraph (e) of article 3 of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976, amended by the Protocol of 1996, will apply the legislation of the Russian Federation on compensation for injury to persons or property, in full, to claims for personal injury or property caused to employees of shipowners or rescuers, arising from liabilities related to the vessel or rescue operations, as well as to claims by their heirs, dependants or persons entitled to be maintained by them, if the contract of employment between the shipowner or rescuer and those employees is subject to the law of the Russian Federation.

The Russian Federation makes use of the possibility, provided in paragraph 3 of article 15 of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976, amended by the Protocol of 1996, and will apply the law of the Russian Federation on compensation for damage to persons or personal property, in full, to claims for compensation for damage to persons or personal property, directly connected with the operation of the ship or with rescue operations, if the shipowner and the person concerned or rescuer and the person concerned are organisations or citizens of the Russian Federation.

The Russian Federation makes use of the possibility, provided in paragraph 3 of article 15 of the Convention on the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976, amended by the Protocol of 1996, and will apply the law of the Russian Federation on compensation for damage to the life or health of citizens, in full, to claims for compensation for damage caused to the life or health of passengers on a ship if the shipowner and passenger are organisations or citizens of the Russian Federation.”

United Kingdom

The instrument of ratification of the United Kingdom contained the following reservation and statement:

“(a) Pursuant to article 18(1)(a) and (b) of the 1976 Convention as amended by the 1996 Protocol, the United Kingdom reserves the right to exclude the application of article 2, paragraphs 1(d) and (e), and to exclude claims for damage within the meaning of the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996.

(b) The United Kingdom intends to make use of the option provided for in article 15(2)(b) of the 1976 Convention as amended by the 1996 Protocol to regulate by specific provisions of national law the system of limitation of liability to be applied to ships less than 300 tons. National law in the United Kingdom will apply the provisions of the 1976 Convention as amended by the 1996 Protocol to such ships. However, for such ships, article 6 will have effect as if article 6(1)(a)(i) referred to 1,000,000 Units of Account and article 6(1)(b)(i) referred to 500,000 Units of Account.

(c) The United Kingdom intends to make use of the option provided in article 15(3bis) of the 1976 Convention as amended by the 1996 Protocol to regulate by specific provisions of national law the system of limitation of liability to be applied to passengers. National law in the United Kingdom implementing the 1976 Convention as amended by the 1996 Protocol will provide for no limit of liability in respect of claims arising from the loss of life or personal injury to passengers of a ship. However, separate limits may continue to apply to a liability for such claims under national law based on the provisions of the Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea.

The United Kingdom’s ratification of the Protocol of 1996 will not be extended to the Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom until such time as the United Kingdom’s denunciation of the 1976 Convention is extended to them.”