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Maritime Transport (Offshore Installations) Amendment Bill (Consistent) [2019] NZBORARp 27 (15 May 2019)
Last Updated: 27 July 2019
15 May 2019
LEGAL ADVICE
LPA 01 01 24
Hon David Parker, Attorney-General
Consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990: Maritime Transport
(Offshore Installations) Amendment Bill
Purpose
- We
have considered whether the Maritime Transport (Offshore Installations)
Amendment Bill (‘the Bill’) is consistent with
the rights and
freedoms affirmed in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (‘the Bill of
Rights Act’). This advice has
been prepared in relation to the final
version of the Bill (PCO 21600/2.6).
The Bill
- The
Bill amends the Maritime Transport Act 1994 (“the Principal Act”) to
clarify and strengthen the requirements under
the Principal Act on owners of
offshore oil and gas installations to hold insurance or other financial security
in relation to their
liability for clean-up and compensation resulting from an
oil spill.
- The
Principal Act implements a polluter-pays regime, under which owners have
unlimited liability for the cost of pollution damage
resulting from a spill at
their facilities in New Zealand waters. The Principal Act also requires owners
to hold insurance or other
financial security in respect of their
liability.
- The
Bill amends the Principal Act to provide certainty in relation to the liability
of insurers (or, in the case of financial security,
the persons providing the
financial security) to the Crown and to other third parties who are affected by
the pollution. The Bill
does not change the owner’s liability. However,
the Bill provides that an insurer can be sued directly by a claimant who has
a
claim against the owner in respect of pollution damage. The Bill also clarifies
that the insurer’s liability to a claimant
is limited to the amount and
type of insurance that the insurer has provided to the owner.
- The
Bill also makes provision for marine protection rules to be made specifying in
more detail the types of liability that will need
to be insured against and set
insurance or other financial security requirements to cover the costs of
complying with marine oil
spill contingency plans.
Conclusion
- We
have concluded that the Bill appears to be consistent with the rights and
freedoms affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act.
Jeff Orr
Chief Legal Counsel Office of Legal Counsel
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