| (1) The Minister may make such regulations as he considers necessary or expedient to provide for the conditions of service of those serving in Ceylon ships and matters connected therewith, and without prejudice to the generality of such powers, may make regulations providing for-
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| (a) apprenticeship to the sea service, the exemption from stamp duty of indenture of apprenticeship, the production to such officers as may be prescribed of such indentures, and other matters relating to such apprenticeship; | | |
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| (b) the making of and procedures relating to agreements in writing between each person employed in a ship registered in Ceylon, and the owner or other person so employing him, the procedure to be followed in connection with the engagement of persons employed in ships registered in Ceylon and the maintenance of a list of crews of ships registered in Ceylon; | | |
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| (c) the engagement of citizens of Ceylon as officers and seamen by foreign ships at any port in Ceylon; | | |
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| (d) the engagement of foreign nationals as officers and seamen in Ceylon ships; | | |
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| (e) the employment in ships of persons under the age of eighteen years and the circumstances in which and the conditions subject to which such persons may be employed in different employments and different descriptions of ships and in any other different circumstances; | | |
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| (f) the implementation in whole or in part of any international convention relating to the employment, welfare, security, certification or status of officers and seamen; | | |
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| (g) the master of a ship maintaining a list of persons under the age of eighteen years engaged in the ship, showing their dates of birth and such other details as may be prescribed; | | |
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| (h) prohibiting (except subject to such extent and on such conditions as may be prescribed) the employment of persons under the age of eighteen years as trimmers or stokers in ships; | | |
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| (i) the medical examination of persons employed in ships; | | |
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| (j) the engagement of officers and seamen; | | |
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| (k) the admissibility of documents in evidence and the proof in legal or other proceedings by an officer or seaman of the contents of any agreement with the crew or otherwise to support his case, without producing or giving notice to produce the agreement or any copy thereof; | | |
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| (l) the particulars to be included in articles of agreement referred to in paragraph (b) of this sub-section; | | |
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| (m) the avoidance of agreements made contrary to such regulations as may be prescribed; | | |
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| (n) the fees to be paid on engagement and discharge; | | |
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| (o) the entry on board any foreign ship in which any citizen of Ceylon is engaged and the taking of such records as may be prescribed for ensuring the due protection of such citizens within the terms of any regulation made under this section; | | |
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| (p) the procedure to be followed and the liabilities to be assumed by the owners and masters of ships, and officers and seamen, or termination of employment for any reason; | | |
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| (q) restriction on suits relating to the wages of officers and seamen; | | |
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| (r) the issue, cancellation, production and inspection of continuous discharge certificate books and such other documents as may be prescribed relating to the commencement or termination of employment; | | |
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| (s) the payment of advances, allotments, forfeitures and the recovery of wages and other remuneration of persons employed in ships registered in Ceylon; | | |
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| (t) the protection of the rights and remedies of an officer or seaman in relation to his wages or other remuneration; | | |
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| (u) the adjudication of questions as to wages and other remuneration by such officers or authorities as may be prescribed; | | |
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| (v) the circumstances in which a right or a loss of a right to wages or other remuneration may occur; | | |
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| (w) the right of suing on any note or other document evidencing an allotment of wages; | | |
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| (x) the right to recover wages and salvage not to be subject to forfeiture; | | |
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| (y) the payment of wages on the termination of employment; | | |
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| (z) the recovery of wages, the venue of and procedure relating to actions for such recovery of wages, the damages and expenses caused by or arising out of any breach of contract by an officer or seaman, and the setting off of any claims therefor against arrears of wages; | | |
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| (aa) the payment of interest (not exceeding twenty per centum per annum) in respect of arrears of wages; | | |
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| (bb) freezing wages from attachment or arrest from any Court, providing that an assignment or sale thereof made prior to the accruing thereof shall not bind the person making the same; providing that a power of attorney or authority for the receipt of wages shall not be irrevocable, and providing that a payment of wages to an officer or seaman shall be valid in law notwithstanding any previous sale or assignment of those wages or any attachment, encumbrance or arrest thereof; | | |
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| (cc) the procedure to be followed in relation to the property of persons dying in a ship, the payment over of such property by such officers as may be prescribed, the restriction of claims upon such property by creditors (including the prescribing of limitation periods in respect thereof) and the disposition of the property of such persons; | | |
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| (dd) the relief, maintenance and repatriation of persons employed in Ceylon ships who are left or in distress abroad, and the recovery from any person or authority of any expenses incurred in connection therewith; | | |
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| (ee) the scale and standards of provisions and water to be provided for crews, complaints relating to provisions and water, and the maintenance on board ships of accurate weights and measures; | | |
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| (ff) the scales of medicines and medical stores to be carried in different classes of ships and on different voyages, the instructions for dispensing medicines and treating injuries and illness, and the expenses of medical attendance and the recovery thereof; | | |
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| (gg) the accommodation to be provided for officers and seamen in a ship of any class prescribed, the position in the ship of such accommodation, the standards to be observed in the construction, equipment and furnishing of such ship, the approval of the plans and specifications thereof, the maintenance, repair and inspection of such accommodation, and the regulation of its use; | | |
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| (hh) the making of complaints against the master or any member of the crew; | | |
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| (ii) disciplinary offences, the discipline of officers and seamen, the imposition of fines and other penalties on persons committing offences against discipline or against laws relating to customs and immigration, the prescribing of offences which can be dealt with by a master, the procedure to be followed in disciplinary matters, the recovery and disposal of fines imposed therein, the remittance or reduction of any fine or penalty imposed by a master, the arrest and detention on board ship of any person whose arrest and detention is in the opinion of the master necessary or expedient in the interests of safety or for the preservation of good order or discipline, the powers of a master to disrate for incompetence, the making of appeals to such authority as may be prescribed, and the delegation by a master of disciplinary powers vested in him; | | |
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| (jj) the procedure for inquiries into deaths; | | |
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| (kk) a standard uniform for the merchant navy; | | |
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| (ll) the business of Shipping Officers and the fees to be payable in relation to the work performed by such officers; | | |
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| (mm) the form and issue of Ceylon seamen's identity cards, the production, endorsement and withdrawal of such cards and matters connected therewith; | | |
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| (nn) the setting up of ship's disciplinary committees and the procedure and powers of such committees; | | |
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| (oo) the establishment of seamen's employment office; | | |
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| (pp) the refusal of port clearance or the detention of any ship on failure to comply with the provisions of any regulation made under this section. | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts