Abstract
New Zealand’s approach to personal injury law is now familiarly associated with the scheme of no-fault cover currently embodied in the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Act 2001 (NZ) (the ‘ACC’ scheme). However, a number of provisions remain scattered throughout our maritime law statutes harking back to more traditional actions by seafarers and passengers seeking compensation for accidents suffered at sea.1 These provisions point to the fact that, despite the wide reach of our compensation regime, personal injury litigation is not a dead letter in New Zealand. Admiralty litigation can take place in jurisdictions that have little or no connection with the vessel in question, save its physical presence at the time proceedings are brought,2 and where an accident occurs on a foreign ship before disembarkation in New Zealand, the statutory compensation regime will not apply.3
As a result of this ‘admiralty gap’ in the statutory compensation scheme, New Zealand needs to ensure that its maritime law in the area of personal injury is up to date, takes into account international developments, and provides for safe and efficient shipping.4 This article, which arose from a wider study of the interaction between maritime law and personal injury in New Zealand, concerns the limitations on liability for personal injury actions following shipping accidents in that jurisdiction. It examines both the Convention for Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976 (the 1976 Convention)5 and the International Convention for the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea 1974 (the Athens Convention)6, and how they interrelate with New Zealand’s ACC legislation.