What Is Foreign Maritime Law?

According to the first provision of China's maritime code, we should adjust the general rules of specific legal norms for maritime pport relations and ship relations.

Maritime business and maritime affairs are the same in broad sense. The narrow sense of maritime business refers to commercial activities between equal subjects, while maritime narrow sense refers to maritime accidents related to the sea and ships.

(1) Foreign Affairs:

Maritime Law

1, adjust the object.

The relationship between the adjustment of maritime law is mostly related to foreign relations or foreign-related factors.

2, the manifestation of maritime law.

In addition to domestic laws, it also includes international treaties and international shipping practices.

3, the scope of validity of maritime law.

The maritime law can be applied to foreign ships in domestic waters, foreign vessels in foreign waters, and even foreign vessels in foreign waters.

The contract of carriage of goods by sea under the Maritime Code of China is limited to international carriage of goods by sea, but not to the pportation of goods in coastal or inland rivers.

(two) technical:

It is mainly embodied in ships, sailors, navigation, cargo pportation and management.

(three) particularity:

Maritime pportation has special risks. For these special risks, special systems of Maritime Law (liability limitation, mortgage right, priority right, salvage at sea, general average, etc.) are formed.

Civil disputes involving foreign elements are mainly manifested in three aspects:

1. the parties to a dispute are either aliens, stateless persons, foreign enterprises and organizations.

2. legal facts concerning the occurrence, alteration or elimination of civil legal relations are in foreign countries or on the high seas.

3. the subject matter of the dispute is abroad or on the high seas.

Four. The object of adjustment of Maritime Law:

Specific social relations in maritime pport:

1. contractual relationship relating to carriage by sea.

It is mainly about the civil legal relationship between the parties involved in the bill of lading, charter party, towing contract, passenger pport contract, salvage contract, insurance contract and so on.

2. maritime tort relations.

It mainly refers to the legal relationship between the injured party and the injured party caused by ship collision, ship pollution and marine environment.

3. social relations arising from special risks at sea.

For example, the relationship between the apportionment and compensation of the parties concerned in general average, the relationship between the owner and the creditors in the limitation of liability for maritime claims.

The above specific relationship is mainly manifested in the relationship between civil rights and obligations, especially the relationship between claims and debts, which belongs to the civil law category.

This is the main content adjusted by the maritime law.

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Five, the historical development of Maritime Law

1, ancient times - the embryonic period of the maritime law (before ninth Century)

According to historical records, in ninth Century BC, the Rhodians and Phoenicians were engaged in maritime trade, and their footprints spread over three continents in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Rhode Island is a small island in the Mediterranean, the most eastern part of Aegean Sea. At that time, it was a strong independent kingdom, and also the center of maritime trade in the Mediterranean.

Many maritime cases are settled here, and the accumulation of months is becoming a habit.

After centuries of accumulation, people have formed a customary law called Lex Rhodia.

This is the embryonic business law of the sea.

2, the medieval period of private compilation of maritime practices (the 10-15 century, the three largest Haifa).

In the middle ages, with the development of maritime trade, the maritime law entered the period of private compilation of maritime practices in several central ports in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and Beihai. As a result, there were three major maritime laws: Lex Oleron and maritime referee, also known as Lex Consolato (Lex Consolato) and Weiss Be Fa (Laws of Visby).

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There are two obvious characteristics of the maritime law in the Middle Ages: first, it only applies to a number of cities in a certain area and has not yet formed the law of national unification; second, the prevailing maritime law collection is a collection of private maritime trade practices and maritime jurisprudence compilation.

3, modern times - the period of the state making Maritime Law (16-19 century)

After entering the modern era, the maritime law of Europe has made significant progress, mainly manifested in the developed countries of the world, in order to adapt to the needs of navigation trade, and have made their own maritime law in accordance with the prevailing customs law.

4, modern - the international unification period of Maritime Law (CMI, IMO, etc.) started in the late nineteenth Century.

With the maritime law becoming an independent legal department, the international maritime law has been separated from international law.

In view of the particularity of maritime law and the requirements of international unification, the Comit Maritime International-CMI was established in the international law society in 1897.

In 1948, the United Nations International Maritime Conference decided to establish an intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), now known as the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The above organizations have done a lot of fruitful work and made important contributions to promoting the unification of international maritime law.

Six, the development trend of contemporary Maritime Law:

(1) the scope of maritime law conflicts has gradually narrowed down, and the maritime law has further emerged the trend of international unification - the international maritime convention.

(two) the responsibility of the ship is aggravated, and the maritime law is developing in a fair and reasonable direction.

(three) in the maritime law, the protection legislation is being strengthened, and the trend of enlarging public law appears.

(four) maritime legislation is pformed from cargo centered to ship centered, large-scale and modernized, and environmental pollution.

(five) the change of seafarer legislation from welfare type to qualification type -- the change of navigation technology and the causes of marine accidents.