| Date |
|
Title and
Synopsis |
| Sept 2009 |
|
Minimum Safe
Manning Documents - Enough Hands On Deck?
Since coming into force on July 1, 2007, mariners and vessel
owners have been adjusting to significant changes to vessel... (read
more) |
| August 2009 |
|
The First Year of
Fines : Update on the New Marine Administrative Monetary Penalty
System
Offences under the Canada Shipping Act 2001 (“CSA 2001”) no
longer need to be prosecuted in court in order for mariners and
vessel owners to feel the financial sting of accidents or
momentary lapses in judgment. (read
more) |
| June 2009 |
|
Finders Keepers? -
Salvage Law for the Non-Professional Salvor
A mariner’s rights and responsibilities relating to salvage are
often misunderstood. Finding an abandoned vessel at sea or along
the shoreline, for example, does not give the mariner the
automatic right to salvage the vessel... (read
more) |
| Feb 2009 |
|
“Commercial
Morality” in Ship Repairs – The Doctrine of Conscionability
Shipyards are frequently criticized for the cost of
their work. This criticism is often, but not always, unfair.
Many ships are bought without full knowledge of the work that is
needed to make them truly seaworthy, or without appreciating the
ongoing cost of properly maintaining a ship... (read
more) |
| Jan 2009 |
|
Falling Asleep at
the Wheel: Negligence, or Gross Negligence?
Hardly a mariner who has taken the wheel of a vessel can
deny that at some point in their career they have fallen asleep,
even for the briefest of moments. (read
more) |
| Dec 2008 |
|
Marine Law Myths:
Registering Liens on Vessels
A lien is neither easy to define, nor easy to understand, but
almost everyone knows that a lien is something they don’t want
on their property. (read more) |
| August 2008 |
|
Sinking Ships
Loosen Lips: Privilege and the Right to Counsel in Marine
Accidents
Be it a sinking, a collision, a catastrophic machinery
failure, a personal injury or death aboard a ship, or an oil
spill, a mariner is well advised to understand the nature of
their responsibility to cooperate with marine investigations...
(read more) |
| July 2008 |
|
Criminal Negligence
It is commonly thought that criminal charges only arise where a
person intends to commit the criminal act. Television shows
often depict people being acquitted of a criminal charge, such
as theft or assault... (read
more) |
| April 2008 |
|
Violation Tickets
for Engineers?
The Canada Shipping Act 2001 ("CSA 2001"), which came into
force on July 1, 2007, replaced the former Canada Shipping Act
and brought with it many important changes to the law. One
important change was the implementation of the Administrative
Monetary Penalty (AMP)... (read
more) |
| Jan 2008 |
|
Without Prejudice
It is a common misconception that marking a letter, email,
or other correspondence with the expression "without prejudice",
makes the person using that expression immune from the content
of what is written. (read more) |
| Dec 2007 |
|
Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMP) in Canada - Part 2
In last month's "Advocate" we discussed the new "AMP"
(Administrative Monetary Penalty) system currently being brought
into effect under the Canada Shipping Act 2001 ("CSA 2001"). I
described how the AMP system was intended to encourage
compliance... (read more) |
| Nov 2007 |
|
Administrative
Monetary Penalties (AMP) in Canada - Part 1
This month's "Advocate" will focus on the implementation of
AMPS (Administrative Monetary Penalties), a system of ticketing
and fines akin to motor vehicle traffic tickets that legislators
hope will make enforcement of the CSA 2001 and regulations more
effective... (read more) |
| August 2007 |
|
Wage Claimants
Proceed Against Asset Outside of Bankruptcy, Trumping Previously
Registered Mortgage
The interplay between bankruptcy and maritime law continues to
surprise bankruptcy lawyers to the pleasure of their
counterparts in admiralty. In Nanaimo Harbour Link Corporation
v. Abakhan & Associates (Trustees) Inc. ...
(read more) |
| June 2007 |
|
Unsafe Working
Conditions: Rights and Responsibilities of Workers and Employers
Since the earliest example of a person trading their labour
for reward in an adventure at sea, the question has arisen: "is
this work more dangerous than it needs to be?".
(read more) |
| May 2007 |
|
Notice to Mariners:
Beware The Hazards of E-Mail
In my practice as a marine lawyer I have seen more than few
mariners sink themselves as a result of the hazardous use of
electronic mail, or "e-mail". (read
more) |
| April 2007 |
|
Principles of
Contract Law for Mariners
Obligations to Perform & Fundamental Breach; costly consequences
can flow from incorrectly assuming that another person's failure
to abide by a contract relieves you of your obligations under
the same agreement. (read more) |
| Feb. 2007 |
|
Employment Law
Primer for Mariners - Severance and Damages for Wrongful
Dismissal
In last month's "Advocate" we outlined the law regarding a
maritime lien for a seaman's wages and discussed why the
powerful remedy of such a lien, ...
(read more) |
| Jan. 2007 |
|
Seaman's Wage
Claims, and Maritime Liens: Introduction to the Principles
The remedies available to seamen when their wages go unpaid
are unlike those remedies available to any worker in any other
industry - they are truly extraordinary. It is wise for every
mariner to have a basic understanding of what a maritime lien
for wages is... (read more) |
| July 2006 |
|
Changes to
Transport Canada Policy: Anti-depressants & Crew Medical
Certificates
When in 1914 Ernest Shackleton published his renown
advertisement for crew to man his transatlantic expedition to
Antarctica, he clearly considered, as a prudent master would,
the psychological pressures that would beset his crew.
(read more) |
| Dec. 2005 |
|
“Electrolysis” and
Impressed Current Corrosion as an insured “Peril of the Sea”
If your vessel has ever been damaged by “electrolysis” and
you have claimed on your hull and machinery insurance, chances
are you have been denied insurance ...
(read more) |
| July 2005 |
|
“Get Off My Boat” –
Vessel Searches and a Mariners Right to Privacy
A reader recently asked me to describe her right to deny an
enforcement officer access to her vessel. The request highlights
a common misconception that a mariner has the right to stop an
enforcement officer from boarding their vessel without a search
warrant. (read more) |
| May 2005 |
|
Of Seagulls and
Bilge Water: A Primer on Bill C-15
Despite its harmless sounding name, “An Act to amend the
Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 and the Canadian
Environmental Protection Act, 1999”, the new federal law
proposed under Bill C-15... (read more) |
| April 2005 |
|
Buying & Selling
Marine Merchandise – Part II
Caveat Emptor: The Rule of “Buyer Beware” Prevails
The rule of “buyer beware”, or caveat emptor, remains good law
in Canada and mariners are wise to understand its principles.
(read more) |
| March 2005 |
|
Buying & Selling
Marine Merchandise – Part I
Death of the Implied Warranty of Fitness
The purchase and sale of marine merchandise gives rise to a
significant portion of my work as a marine lawyer. Claims by
purchasers, and defences for vendors, ...
(read more) |
| Feb. 2005 |
|
When being Impaired
on a Moored Vessel becomes a Criminal Offence
I recently went to trial for a towboat skipper who had been
charged with being in “care and control” of his vessel while
“impaired”, contrary to section 253(a) of the Canada Criminal
Code. (read more) |
| Jan. 2005 |
|
Myths of the
Repairers Lien Act
Mariners, and businesses in the marine industry, should know
that their rights and liabilities under the BC Repairers Liens
are not what they once were, nor what they may assume.
(read more) |
| Dec. 2004 |
|
Workplace Safety
and the Law
Recent amendments to the Criminal Code establish a specific
legal duty for employers to take steps towards a safe workplace,
including on the water. Failure to do so may result in charges
of criminal negligence. (read more) |
| May 2004 |
|
The Mariner’s
Rights in Salvage: A Primer for the Non-Professional Salvor
This article is intended to outline of the rights and
responsibilities of mariners who undertake “pure” salvage, that
is, salvage work done without a salvage contract.
(read more) |
| March 2004 |
|
A Primer on
Regulatory Offences: Absolute and Strict Liability
The majority of legal liabilities a mariner may face in the
course of their nautical career will be “regulatory offences”.
Regulatory offences include ‘crimes’ like oil pollution,
unlicensed fishing, maintaining an unsafe work place...
(read more) |
| June 2003 |
|
Confined Spaces –
Keeping a Clear Head
In January of 2002, eight crewmembers were killed by an
explosion while spray painting the inside of an upper ballast
tank of their Hong Kong registered bulk carrier. Five bodies
were found, while three were presumed to have been vaporized.
(read more) |
| |
|
|
About Darren Williams, BSc. LLb.