ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the potentially difficult issues of jurisdiction which arise in connection with limitation of liability under the 1976 Convention. The purpose of such a convention is after all to provide a uniform regime whereby the overall liability of a shipowner in respect of a particular maritime accident is capped at a certain level and the claimants in respect of that accident are paid out rateably in accordance with the proportion which their claim bears to the total amount of claims. The underlying premise is that it is for the shipowner to choose where to limit his liability and to establish a limitation fund in that jurisdiction against which claims may be enforced. The 1976 Convention introduced an express connection between a liability claim and a limitation fund by providing that the establishment of a limitation fund is to be responsive to a claim being made in a Contracting State.
