§ 7.50 p.m.
§ The Earl of Caithness rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 4th July be approved. [29th Report from the Joint Committee.]
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, I beg to move that the draft Hovercraft (Civil Liability) Order 1986 be approved.
§ As from 1st December 1986 the 1976 convention on limitation of liability for maritime claims will apply to shipowners' overall liability. From that date all the present legislation on limitation of liability of shipowners will be revoked, removing the legal basis for the 1979 order. Thus this order revokes and re-enacts with amendments the Hovercraft (Civil Liability) Order 1979.
§ As well as amending the overall liability, the order also updates all other limitation amounts for hovercraft on a uniform basis, using up-to-date exchange rates. Other amendments stem from the recent amendments of the Carriage by Air Act 1961.
§ Consultations have taken place with the industry and other interested parties, and as a result a new order has been laid rather than a complex amending order. I commend this order to your Lordships, and beg to move.
§ Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 4th July be approved. [29th Report from the Joint Committee.]—(The Earl of Caithness.)
§ Lord UnderhillMy Lords, without the explanation that the House has just had from the noble Earl this, again, would have been a very complicated order. I am certain that I would not have understood it without that explanation. As the Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments in the other place met at 10.30, approved the order and rose at 10.31, I shall act in the same way on this occasion. I welcome the order.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ Viscount DavidsonMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn during pleasure until 8.30 p.m.
§ Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
§ [The sitting was suspended from 7.51 until 8.30 p.m.]