ABSTRACT

French Maritime Ordinance 1681. 14. Noted by Lord Stowell in The ‘‘Dundee’’ (1823) 1 Hagg. 109 at page 121. Lord Stowell was, however,

mistaken in thinking that the rule in Holland arose from a statute introduced to protect and encourage Dutch shipping trade. The origin of the principle of limitation in Dutch law arose from a critical engagement by jurists such as Grotius with the rules of liability of shipowners in Roman law-e.g. in De Jure Belli ac Pacis Bk II, Ch XI, 13 as noted in Sotiropoulos op. cit. p. 25 and Hare, ‘‘Shopping for the best Admiralty Bargain’’, Chap. 5 in Davies (ed.) Jurisdiction and Forum Selection in International Maritime Law essays in honour of Robert Force pp 137-182 at p. 138. See also The ‘‘Rebecca’’ 1 Ware 187, 20 F. Cas 373 at p. 5 (per Ware J).