ITALY LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Giorgio Berlingieri, Alberto Massimo Rossi, Alfredo Lizio, Alberto Torrazza, Simone Gaggero and Filippo Cassola, ADVANT Nctm
includes a set of provisions aimed at ensuring sustainable working and living conditions on board ships engaged in international voyages or routes between foreign ports, strengthening health and safety standards in maritime work, respect for fair employment conditions, social security measures and other forms of social pro - tection. The legislation in force concerning the health and safety of maritime workers and seafarers is quite broad. On the assumption that Legisla - tive Decree No 81 of 2008 of 9 April 2008 (the so-called Consolidation Act on the protection of health and safety in the workplace represents the Italian legislation that has to be complied with in order to ensure the correct levels of health and safety of workers by the employer) does not apply to seafarers due to the non-enactment of the necessary implementing decrees, legislation of a special nature comes to the fore. The follow - ing pieces of legislation therefore apply: • Legislative Decree No 271 of 27 July 1999, applicable to work activities carried out aboard ships; • Legislative Decree No 272 of 27 July 1999, applicable to work activities carried out in ports; • Legislative Decree No 298 of 17 August 1999, applicable to the fishing sector; and • Legislative Decree No 71 of 12 May 2015, applicable to other maritime workers and seafarers.
Rules”). The Hague-Visby Rules are a lex specia - lis overruling the Italian Navigation Code. How - ever, Italy has not ratified the Hamburg Rules or the Rotterdam Rules. 3.2 Title to Sue on a Bill of Lading Under Italian law, only the legitimate holder of the original bill of lading is entitled to sue for loss or damage to cargo. According to the general principles of Italian procedural law, an assign - ment of title to sue is duly admitted. 3.3 Ship-Owners’ Liability and Limitation of Liability for Cargo Damages Article 2049 of the Italian Civil Code and Article 274 of the Italian Navigation Code regulate ship- owners’ liability for the acts or omissions of the crew. More generally, the liability regime of a carrier is based on the so-called “fault-based liability scheme”, which means the carrier will not be liable for loss or damage caused by any of the excepted perils provided for by Article 4 of the Hague-Visby Rules. The ship-owner is liable when acting as either a contractual carrier or an actual carrier. Whenever the ship-owner is the contractual carrier, they benefit from the terms and conditions of the bill of lading involving limitations of liability. How - ever, a ship-owner acting as an actual carrier can likewise benefit from the terms and conditions of the bill of lading and, therefore, from the liability limitations provided for therein, if the bill of lad - ing contains a properly drafted Himalaya clause. The Himalaya clause is a contractual provision whereby the carrier’s servants and subcontrac - tors (eg, stevedores) can benefit from the same limitations of liability set out in the bill of lading, although the carrier’s servants and subcontrac -
3. Cargo Claims 3.1 Bills of Lading
Italy has ratified the Hague Rules relating to Bills of Lading of 25 August 1924 and the Protocols of 1968 and 1979 thereto (the “Hague-Visby
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