COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Javier Franco, Franco & Abogados Asociados
Colombia is not a party to the Salvage Conven - tion 1989. However, Articles 1545–1554 of the Colombian Commercial Code incorporate cer - tain provisions that follow the basic logic of the York Antwerp Rules. 2.3 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims Colombia has not ratified the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (the “1976 LLMC Convention”). As mentioned in 2.2 International Conventions: Collision and Sal- vage , the Colombian Commercial Code provides that only in certain cases could the armador limit their liability to the value of the ship, her acces - sories and freight. There is currently no further local legislation that follows the parameters of the 1976 LLMC Convention. 2.4 Procedure and Requirements for Establishing a Limitation Fund Apart from those provisions contained in the CLC and FUND schemes, there are no specific provisions for the constitution of a limitation fund in Colombian law. 2.5 Seafarers’ Safety and Owners’ Liability The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 is not in force in Colombia. Thus, regular parameters of the domestic Labour Law apply.
important differences can be found, particularly regarding the limitation of liability of the carrier. 3.2 Title to Sue on a Bill of Lading Usually, it is understood that, if a proper bill of lading was provided, the legitimate holder of the bill of lading would be the one entitled to present any claim against the carrier. 3.3 Ship-Owners’ Liability and Limitation of Liability for Cargo Damages Articles 1643 and 1644 of the Colombian Com - mercial Code deal with the carrier’s limitation of liability, and state that the value of the cargo that has been declared to the carrier will be used as a maximum limit of liability. If the value was not so declared by the shipper, the limit would be the price of the goods at the loading port. How - ever, Article 1644 goes on to establish that par - ties could agree on a maximum limit of liability, thereby entitling parties to establish a different limitation (see the Colombian Supreme Court of Justice’s decision of 8 September 2011, LJ Wil - liam Namén). The aforementioned provisions apply to the benefit of whomever is considered “the carrier”, whether they are the registered ship-owner or not. 3.4 Misdeclaration of Cargo Colombia is not a traditional maritime jurisdic - tion, so there is not much case law on the sub - ject. However, it should be noted that, as per Article 1615 of the Colombian Commercial Code, the shipper should guarantee the precision of the information provided to the carrier regarding marks, numbers, quality, quantity, condition and weight of the goods. Thus, a breach of that obli - gation could enable the carrier to bring a claim against the shipper.
3. Cargo Claims 3.1 Bills of Lading
Colombia has not ratified any of the existing international sets of rules on bills of lading. However, the Colombian Commercial Code has incorporated certain provisions that – to a cer - tain extent – purport to follow the general logic of the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules. Nevertheless,
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