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GENERAL SURVEY
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85
been complied with, and that national laws or regulations are to settle the details of the application of these conditions.
Transitional provisions.
In the analysis of the replies to Question 3 it was mentioned (ante, p. 73) that the Belgian Government had accompanied its proposal for an all-round tonnage limitation of 25 tons for the purpose of exceptions to the Draft Convention by a further proposal to the effect that, with such a limitation, the Draft Convention should leave it open to each Member to issue transitional regulations and might also provide for the issuing of licences for a limited period, or even permanent licences, to persons who for a certain number of years had, without holding a certificate but without committing any serious technical error, acted in any of the four capacities of master or skipper, navigating officer in charge of a watch, etc.
The need for any special provision on these lines in the Draft Convention will clearly be considerably diminished if the draft, as has already been proposed, fixes the limit for exceptions in respect of vessels at 200 tons instead of 25. All the same, it should perhaps not be overlooked that even a limit of 200 tons would require very substantial changes in certain national regulations which at present allow still wider exceptions; that in a particular country or countries the organising by the public authorities of examinations (in accordance with the third condition mentioned above) for the purpose of certificating what might be a not inconsiderable number of persons who at present are not obliged to hold certificates might involve certain appreciable admi- nistrative adjustments; and that in the case of a large proportion of such persons as have just been referred to the length of their practical experience and their pro- fessional record in the actual discharge of the duties of master or skipper, chief engineer or navigating or engineer officer might well be considered to furnish sufficient guarantees, without the necessity of insisting that they should also have to pass the regular examinations pres- cribed for candidates for the corresponding certificate.
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QUESTION 5
The Office ventures to consider that ratification of the Draft Convention by certain countries might perhaps be facilitated, without any real breach being made in its principles, if some transitional provision were made in it for taking account of the situation indicated above. It accordingly proposes, on the lines of the suggestion made in the Belgian reply, to add to its draft for submission to the Conference a clause allowing any Member, during a period of, say, three years from the date of its ratification of the Convention, to dispense with the condition as to the passing of examinations organised and supervised by the public authorities in the granting of certificates to persons who have already had sufficient practical experience of the duties for which the certificate is required and have no record of any serious technical error against them.
International model certificate.
It may be added that the French Government in its reply has reserved the right to raise at the Conference itself the question of instituting an international certifi- cate of capacity on the basis of which a special diploma of a uniform model would be issued: it considers that such a uniform diploma might have certain advantages for the purpose of facilitating supervision in foreign countries. The Office ventures to draw the attention of the Conference to this question.
V. Sanctions (Question 5).
Two points were put to the Governments in this Question:
(1) whether national laws or regulations should be required to provide for sanctions against :
(a) a shipowner engaging a master or officer who is not duly certificated as required by the Draft Convention;
(b) a master or officer making use of forged documents to obtain employment as such; and
(2) what should be the character of such sanctions (penal or disciplinary).
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