ABSTRACT
In civil law systems, wrongful arrest is often considered an aspect of tort law. In very general terms, the arrest is wrongful if is effected in circumstances where a normally prudent, reasonable creditor would not have arrested the ship. The main issue, however, is whether or not events — primarily the outcome of the proceedings on the merits — are to be taken into account when deciding whether an arrest was wrongful. Dutch legal opinion essentially sees a conservatory ship arrest as an infringement of the shipowner’s rights, which is provisionally allowed, but only on the (implicit) condition that the arresting party’s claim turns out to be justified. If that is not the case, the arrest automatically and retroactively becomes wrongful. Strict liability generally only applies if the claim is entirely dismissed — as long as the arresting party wins on at least some points, there is no longer strict liability but only fault-based liability.
