Compulsory Insurance under EC Directive 2009/20/EC - An Adequate Solution for Victims, or is it also Time for the Abolition of Maritime Limitation of Liability and the Establishment of an International Fund as an Insurer of Last Resort?

The protection of victims through compulsory liability insurance is not a new phenomenon, and there are a substantial number of instances in indigenous as well as European sourced English legislation which provide for compulsory insurance. Compulsory liability insurance has existed in relation to employers’ liability and road traffic accidents in English law for a long time; the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 generally imposes a requirement on employers doing business in Great Britain “to insure, and maintain insurance, under one or more approved policies with an authorised insurer or insurers against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by his employees, and arising out of and in the course of their employment in Great Britain in that business.” Compulsory insurance has been a constant feature of road traffic legislation since the enactment of the Road Traffic Act 1930.