Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION
NORWAY Sale of Goods Act.
The amended Sale of Goods Act came into effect in Norway on Jan. 1, 1975. Under this Act, the complaint period for a commodity is to be increased from one year to two years. From Jan. 1, false or misleading information will be considered to be a fault in the goods. If such conditions have influenced the purchase, a customer may be able to submit complaints to the manufacturer, importer, wholesale or retail merchant.
SULTANATE OF OMAN
Maritime Law of 1974.
The Sultanate of Oman has established a Maritime Law, 1974, the fundamental purposes of which are:
(i) to promote development of the foreign and domestic commerce of the Sultanate.
(ii) to foster friendly relations between the Sultanate and its neighbours.
(iii) to revive the major role played by the Sultanate in international maritime commerce, traffic and trade, and thereby enable the Sultanate to make lasting contributions to the Arab people and people throughout the world.
The law is designed to achieve its fundamental purposes by means of the following:
(i) the provision of an effective and well-administered system of registration of ships as Omani ships.
(ii) the provision of procedures and facilities enabling Omani ships to be made the subject of modern secured ship-financing transactions.
(iii) the promulgation of requirements to ensure a high standard of safety for Omani ships and for service on board such ships.
(iv) the promulgation of requirements to ensure that Omani ships conform in their condition and operation to the standards of international maritime law, traditional and modern, customary and conventional, and
(v) the provision of a system of just, expeditious, inexpensive, and efficient resolution of justiciable legal disputes of a maritime nature.
The scope of the law is to cover all matters of a maritime nature, except where otherwise provided and ships owned or operated by his Majesty the Sultan and ships operated within the jurisdiction of or by the armed forces of the Sultanate are excluded and exempt.
The law contains titles dealing with:
Title 1: General provisions; Title 2: The administration of maritime affairs; Title 3: Nationality and registration of ships; Title 4: Omani maritime companies; Title 5: Qualified foreign owners; Title 6: Maritime mortgages, maritime rights and statutory maritime cargo liens; Title 7: Masters and seamen; Title 8: Safety standards
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