Study On Principle Of Indemnity Under Marine Insurance Law

As a basic principle of the law of marine insuance, the principle of indemnity is implied in most legal provisions of marine insurance. Many important and characteristic legal norms, such as the doctrine of insurable interests, subrogation, abandonment, double insurance and so on, all derive from it. All of these norms constitute basic characters of marine insurance. Currently, the reformation of the law of marine insurance also focuses on the function of indemnity. Thus, a comprehansive and profound research on the principle of indemnity is very necessary.The first chapter is an overview of the principle of indemnity. The arguments mainly concentrate on the causes of the principle, the basic characters of the principle, some new developments of the principle, and the relation between the principle of indemity and the principle of insurance interests.The second chapter, from the viewpoint of legal system, makes some research on the basic regulations regarding to indemnity in the law of marine insurance. The regulations include the doctrine of merger, definitions of the actual loss, the constructive loss, the partial loss and the measure of indemnity. This chapter also makes an examination of some traditional regulations in English law.The dissertation commences from the third chapter to study various specific rules derived from the principle of indemnity. The third chapter is about the doctrine of insurable interest. This part gives an introduction, review and analysis to various schools of thought with regard to insurable interest under common law system and continental law system, then explains from theory to practice how to unscramble the doctrine of insurable interest under Chinese Insurance Law. In the end, the author puts forward his own opinions in respect of the international view of abolishing such doctrine.The fourth chapter is about research on subrogation. This part attempts to interpret various issues through some civil legal theories, especially makes a deep research into the conflict between the right of subrogation and the interests of assureds, and finally makes the introduction and commentary as to the view of abolishing the right of subrogation.The fifth chapter is the one regarding the abandonment. Abandonment is a special system under marine insurance, and a lot of disputes have arisen from it during judicial practice. By means of comparative study, this part brings forward some novel opinions as to how to understand the provisions of Chinese Maritime Code, and ultimately makes a whole new conclusion to the legal nature of abandonment.The sixth chapter is the one in respect of double insurance. This part makes a meticulous probe into its elements, measure of indemnity as well as the rule of contribution which shall be adopted, etc.The seventh chapter studies the punitive damages. The conclusion is that it's not suitable to introduce such rule into our Chinese marine insurance law.The eighth chapter makes the research on the new contemporary development with respect to principle of indemnity under the law of marine insurance. In my opinion, the new development is that the rule of "prohibition on gain" is not any more the only core, though it is still the very important content; and how to realize the full indemnity to the loss of the assured becomes the important content, too. Whether when constructing the law or when restructuring the mechanism, equal emphasis should be placed on the rules of both "prohibition on gain" and "full indemnity", neither should be overemphasized at the expense of the other. Since it was mostly the former that had been emphasized in the past, then it's more important to lay stress on the latter at present.