Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1850495947

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-233603

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Off.

Year of publication:: 1931

Scope:: xviii, 580 S.; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XVI. - Workmen's compensation

Collection:: Economics Books

200 CHAPTER XVI. ship plying between Calcutta and the Far East, and compensation is refused, his dependants must prosecute the claim in Great Britain. This difficulty has been to some extent overcome by an arrangement in which practically all the shipping companies employing Indian lascars have co-operated. Under this arrangement, the shipowner and the seaman, at the time of signing the articles, enter into an additional article of agreement by which, in the event of accidents, compensation in accordance with the Indian Act can be claimed by seamen who do not prosecute claims elsewhere, and the Commissioners under the Indian Act are accepted as arbitrators in the event of disputes. On the whole, this arrangement appears to have worked smoothly but it cannot be regarded as entirely satisfactory. In the first place, it is apparently within the option of the shipowner to refuse to enter into the agreement. In the second place, according to our information the agreement does not give the dependants a legal claim, although employers have not taken advantage of this loophole. Finally, the proceed- ings of Commissioners are not proceedings under the Indian Act, and various safeguards in the Act and Rules, such as the provisions relating to appeals. agreements, etc., are inapplicable. Further Protection for Seamen, It is not possible, by means of the agreement, to place a seaman in precisely the same position as if he was included in the Indian Act ; but certain defects in the present system can be removed. We recommend that steps be taken to ensure that dependants are capable of enforcing the agreement. We also consider that steps should be taken to ensure that all shipowners engaging Indian seamen shall enter into the agreement. We understand that the Indian Government has power to insist upon this. The only point to consider is the propriety of exercising compulsion 50 long as there is a possibility of a double claim, .e., a claim under the agreement and a subsequent claim in Britain or elsewhere under the law applicable to the ship. Perhaps there is no practical force in this objec- tion, for it may be assumed that Indian seamen and their dependants in India would ordinarily be quite unable to pursue claims in Britain or elsewhere, and even if they did, any amount already paid would presumably be set off against the claim by the British or other court. But we may suggest that before making the agreement compulsory, Government might ascertain whether, in fact, there have been any double claims, and whether the danger of double recovery is a real one in practice. The extension of the agreement will not be completely equi- valent to bringing Indian seamen under the Indian Act, and Indian sea- men are naturally anxious that this Act should be extended to them while serving on any ship. But it isa general principle of international law that, on a ship belonging to a particular country, the law applicable while on the high seas is the law of that country and those who embark, whether as seamen or passengers, on foreign ships go outside the protection of their own laws for the time being. This principle can, we understand, be modified by reciprocal arrangements between the countries concerned. In the present case the country principally concerned is (Great Britain

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Report of the Royal Commission on Labour in India

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

Chapter

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation