Government working to strengthen Niue’s Maritime Law
The first output of this round of consultation is likely to be a Maritime Liability Bill, updating Niue’s law so that in the unlikely event of a major maritime disaster, Niue is in a strong position to access compensation from the vessel’s owners or insurers.
Image Credit: Niue Government
The Government of Niue in partnership with the New Zealand’s Pacific Maritime Safety Programme (PMSP) has spent the past weeks working to strengthen and improve Niue’s maritime law around safety, environmental and liability issues.
Like most other countries, Niue is a party to a wide number of international agreements dealing with many aspects of maritime law, such as the conventions setting the environmental and safety standards that large foreign ships must meet when operating in Niue waters, as well as the insurance requirements for those vessels in the event that something goes wrong.
To assist with this project, PMSP has funded the visit of Dr Bevan Marten, a maritime law expert from Izard Weston in Wellington, to provide support to the Department of Transport.
Dr Marten met with officials last week from the Transport, Environment, Police, Fisheries, Crown Law and Utilities to discuss the various international obligations Niue has and how the country can better meet those obligations through domestic law reform.
The first output of this round of consultation is likely to be a Maritime Liability Bill, updating Niue’s law so that in the unlikely event of a major maritime disaster, Niue is in a strong position to access compensation from the vessel’s owners or insurers. Other work will include new maritime environmental standards for vessel-source pollution, and legislation governing Niue’s powers to respond to a hazardous vessel incident.
