Merchant Shipping (Liability of Shipowners and Others) Act, 1996

Powers of court where liability limited under 1974 Convention.

27.—A court before which proceedings are brought in pursuance of Article 17 of the 1974 Convention to enforce a liability which is limited by virtue of Article 12 of that Convention may at any stage of the proceedings make such order as appears to the court to be just and equitable having regard to the provisions of the said Article 12 and to any other proceedings which have been or are likely to be begun in the State or elsewhere to enforce the liability in whole or in part; without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing such a court shall, where the liability is or may be partly enforceable in other proceedings in the State or elsewhere, have jurisdiction to award an amount less than the court would have awarded if the limitation applied solely to the proceedings before the court or to make any part of its award conditional on the results of any other proceedings.