Classification societies and immunity from jurisdiction

One of the issues that may arise when a classification society acts on behalf of a flag state carrying out statutory certification services is whether the classification society can rely on the same defences as a state when held liable. The most important of these defences is immunity from jurisdiction. In the cases arising from the incidents with the Erika1 and the Prestige2 this indeed played a role and, more recently, this was also the case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in the matter of the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98.3 These cases are discussed below. One of the criteria that is of relevance to assess whether a classification society may rely on immunity is the legal basis for the work performed. The article will address the various roles of classification societies, their commercial classification activities and statutory activities as delegates of flag states.