Implementation of the 1996 Hazardous and Noxious Substances Convention: A Few Short Steps to Canadian Law

Far more destructive than oil spills are spills of other hazardous and noxious substances (collectively hazardous substances ). This is a comment on the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage o f Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996. It is an international convention to apportion liability and facilitate compensation for victims of hazardous substances which was passed by the International Maritime Organization on May 1996. Canada became a signatory to the Convention on September 9, 1997. This comment will examine the history of the development of the HNS Convention, including the difficulties encountered by the IMO in attempting to adopt the HNS Convention at an earlier date. The key terms and articles of the HNS Convention will be examined and compared to earlier conventions already in force. Additionally a hypothetical claim for damages will be projected for the HNS Convention – as such a claim would be approached within Canada. In this the implementing provisions of earlier IMO conventions will be drawn upon. This process will demonstrate that objections towards rapid implementation are unfounded as through the ratification and implementation of such earlier conventions the philosophical, legal and bureaucratic groundwork HNS Convention implementation has been laid within Canada