Merchant Shipping (International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund) Act, 2013 (Act No. 24 of 2013)ProtocolPart B : Consolidated Text of the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992Organization and Administration |
Article 16
The Fund shall have an Assembly and a Secretariat headed by a Director.
Assembly
Article 17
The Assembly shall consist of all Contracting States to this Convention.
Article 18
The functions of the Assembly shall be:
| 1. | to elect at each regular session its Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen who shall hold office until the next regular session; |
| 2. | to determine its own rules of procedure, subject to the provisions of this Convention; |
| 3. | to adopt Internal Regulations necessary for the proper functioning of the Fund; |
| 4. | to appoint the Director and make provisions for the appointment of such other personnel as may be necessary and determine the terms and conditions of service of the Director and other personnel; |
| 5. | to adopt the annual budget and fix the annual contributions; |
| 6. | to appoint auditors and approve the accounts of the Fund; |
| 7. | to approve settlements of claims against the Fund, to take decisions in respect of the distribution among claimants of the available amount of compensation in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 5, and to determine the terms and conditions according to which provisional payments in respect of claims shall be made with a view to ensuring that victims of pollution damage are compensated as promptly as possible; |
| 8. | (deleted] |
| 9. | to establish any temporary or permanent subsidiary body it may consider to be necessary, to define its terms of reference and to give it the authority needed to perform the functions entrusted to it; when appointing the members of such body, the Assembly shall endeavour to secure an equitable geographical distribution of members and to ensure that the Contracting States, in respect of which the largest quantities of contributing oil are being received, are appropriately represented; the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly may be applied, mutatis rnutandis, for the work of such subsidiary body; |
| 10. | to determine which non-Contracting States and which inter-governmental and international non-governmental organizations shall be admitted to take part, without voting rights, in meetings of the Assembly and subsidiary bodies; |
| 11. | to give instructions concerning the administration of the Fund to the Director and subsidiary bodies; |
| 12. | [deleted] |
| 13. | to supervise the proper execution of the Convention and of its own decisions; |
| 14. | to perform such other functions as are allocated to it under the Convention or are otherwise necessary for the proper operation of the Fund. |
Article 19
| 1. | Regular sessions of the Assembly shall take place once every calendar year upon convocation by the Director. |
| 2. | Extraordinary sessions of the Assembly shall be convened by the Director at the request of at least one-third of the members of the Assembly and may be convened on the Director's own initiative after consultation with the Chairman of the Assembly. The Director shall give members at least thirty days notice of such sessions. |
Article 20
A majority of the members of the Assembly shall constitute a quorum for its meetings.
Articles 21 to 27
[deleted]
Secretariat
Article 28
| 1. | The Secretariat shall comprise the Director and such staff as the administration of the Fund may require. |
| 2. | The Director shall be the legal representative of the Fund. |
Article 29
| 1. | The Director shall be the chief administrative officer of the Fund. Subject to the instructions given to him by the Assembly, he shall perform those functions which are assigned to him by this Convention, the Internal Regulations of the Fund and the Assembly. |
| 2. | The Director shall in particular: |
| (a) | appoint the personnel required for the administration of the Fund; |
| (b) | take all appropriate measures with a view to the proper administration of the Funds assets; |
| (c) | collect the contributions due under this Convention while observing in particular the provisions of Article 13, paragraph 3; |
| (d) | to the extent necessary to deal with claims against the Fund and carry out the other functions of the Fund, employ the services of legal, financial and other experts; |
| (e) | take all appropriate measures for dealing with claims against the Fund within the limits and on conditions to be laid down in the Internal Regulations, including the final settlement of claims without the prior approval of the Assembly where these Regulations so provide; |
| (f) | prepare and submit to the Assembly the financial statements and budget estimates for each calendar year; |
| (g) | prepare, in consultation with the Chairman of the Assembly, and publish a report of the activities of the Fund during the previous calendar year; |
| (h) | prepare, collect and circulate the papers, documents, agenda, minutes and information that may be required for the work of the Assembly and subsidiary bodies. |
Article 30
In the performance of their duties the Director and the staff and experts appointed by him shall not seek or receive instructions from any Government or from any authority external to the Fund. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials. Each Contracting State on its part undertakes to respect the exclusively international character of the responsibilities of the Director and the staff and experts appointed by him, and not to seek to influence them in the discharge of their duties.
Finances
Article 31
| 1. | Each Contracting State shall bear the salary, travel and other expenses of its own delegation to the Assembly and of its representatives on subsidiary bodies. |
| 2. | Any other expenses incurred in the operation of the Fund shall be borne by the Fund. |
Voting
Article 32
The following provisions shall apply to voting in the Assembly:
| (a) | each member shall have one vote; |
| (b) | except as otherwise provided in Article 33, decisions of the Assembly shall be by a majority vote of the members present and voting; |
| (c) | decisions where a three-fourths or a two-thirds majority is required shah be by a three-fourths or two-thirds majority vote, as the case may be, of those present; |
| (d) | for the purpose of this Article the phrase "members present" means "members present at the meeting at the time of the vote", and the phrase "members present and voting" means "members present and casting an affirmative or negative vote". Members who abstain from voting shall be considered as not voting. |
Article 33
The following decisions of the Assembly shall require a two-thirds majority:
| (a) | a decision under Article 13, paragraph 3, not to take or continue action against a contributor; |
| (b) | the appointment of the Director under Article 18, paragraph 4; |
| (c) | the establishment of subsidiary bodies, under Article 18, paragraph 9, and matters relating to such establishment. |
Article 34
| 1. | The Fund, its assets, income, including contributions and other property shall enjoy in all Contracting States exemption from all direct taxation. |
| 2. | When the Fund makes substantial purchases of movable or immovable property, or has important work carried out which is necessary for the exercise of its official activities and the cost of which includes indirect taxes or sales taxes, the Governments of Member States shall take, whenever possible, appropriate measures for the remission or refund of the amount of such duties and taxes. |
| 3. | No exemption shall be accorded in the case of duties, taxes or dues which merely constitute payment for public utility services. |
| 4. | The Fund shall enjoy exemption from all customs duties, taxes and other related taxes on articles imported or exported by it or on its behalf for its official use. Articles thus imported shall not be transferred either for consideration or gratis on the territory of the country into which they have been imported on conditions agreed by the government of that country. |
| 5. | Persons contributing to the Fund and victims and owners of ships receiving compensation from the Fund shall be subject to the fiscal legislation of the State where they are taxable, no special exemption or other benefit being conferred on them in this respect. |
| 6. | Information relating to individual contributors supplied for the purpose of this Convention shall not be divulged outside the Fund except in so far as it may be strictly necessary to enable the Fund to carry out its functions including the bringing and defending of legal proceedings. |
| 7. | Independently of existing or future regulations concerning currency or transfer, Contracting States shall authorize the transfer and payment of any contribution to the Fund and of any compensation paid by the Fund without any restriction. |