Section 546: Release of ships, etc

546. Release of ships, etc.—(1) Where a vessel or other property is detained in connection with a claim which appears to the High Court to be founded on a liability to which a limit set by section 541 or 542 applies, or security is given to prevent or obtain release from such detention the High Court may, if the guarantee was given in a port which, in relation to the claim, is the relevant port, order the release of the vessel, property or security if the conditions specified in sub-section (2) are satisfied; and where the release is ordered, the person on whose application it is ordered shall be deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the High Court to adjudicate upon the claim. (2) the conditions referred to in sub-section (1) are— (a) that security which in the opinion of the High Court is satisfactory (in this section referred to as “guarantee”) has previously been given whether in Pakistan or elsewhere, in respect of the said liability or any other liability incurred on the same occasion and the High Court is satisfied that if the claim is established, the amount for which the guarantee was given or such part thereof as corresponds to the claim will be actually available to the claimant; and (b) that either the guarantee is for an amount not less than the said limit or further security is given which, together with the guarantee is for an amount not less that that limit; (3) For the purposes of this section— (a) a guarantee given by the giving of security in more than one country shall be deemed to have been given in the country in which security was last given; (b) any question whether the amount of any security is (either by itself or together with any other amount) not less than any limit set by section 541 or 542 shall be decided as at the time at which the security is given ; and (c) where part only of the amount for which a guarantee was given will be avail- able to a claimant that part shall not be taken to correspond to his claim if any other part may be available to a claimant in respect of a liability to which no limit is set as mentioned in sub-section (1).

Effective date: 2001-01-01

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