Jacob Coren’s Observatio 40: shipowner liability for inculpable ship collision and its limitation in Roman-Dutch law

Abstract

Summary In 1617, two Dutch merchantmen collided in a storm on the North Sea. The incident resulted in extensive legal proceedings before the Supreme Court of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland, lasting until 1640. In an unprecedented decision, which was published as no. 40 of Jacob Coren’s well-known Observationes, the Court limited the liability of shipowners for inculpable ship collision to the value of their ship. Based both on extensive archival research and the text of Coren’s Observatio, the present article offers a detailed discussion of the facts and proceedings of the case, and sets out how the case was received by Roman-Dutch scholars. As it turns out, limitation of shipowner liability was analysed in terms of noxal surrender in order to reconcile shipowner liability for inculpable ship collision with contemporary perceptions of equity.