Research On The Application Of Proximate Cause Principle

Principle of proximate cause, firstly established in "Marine Insurance Act,1906" of Britain, is an important principle to determine the causation between the risks that happen in the insurance accidents and losses caused by the insurance accidents so as to confirm the insurer's liability to pay compensation. Through a lot of cases of marine insurance, the theory of proximate cause principle has been fully discussed and improved in the judgments by British judges.However, principle of proximate cause is not specified in China's Insurance Law and Marine Law, and thus can only be used as a reference by the judges in judicial practice, but not explicitly cited in the judgments. Therefore, the thesis will discuss how to understand and apply the principle of proximate cause in combination of typical cases in marine insurance's practice to provide an unified standard and improve the efficiency to determine the causation.In chapter 1, the thesis introduces the origin of principle of proximate cause, pointing out that it is an important principle to determine the causation and help the insurers control risks. Secondly, it introduces the concept of proximate cause and principle of proximate cause, and points out that the proximate cause is the most direct and effective and dominated cause that causes the damages, and the system of principle of proximate cause is a fair liability mechanism to determine the insurer's liability to pay compensation, which balances the interests between the insurer and the insurant. Then it introduces the foreign legislation and domestic present situations. And then the comparison of two cases makes it clear that introducing the principle of proximate cause into the marine insurance legislation in China is of great importance.In chapter 2, the thesis firstly points out that to find out the proximate cause is a complex issue, and the key is to seize the concept of proximate cause. Then through the cases study, it teaches the methods for determining the proximate cause. Secondly, it discusses several important factors that impact finding out the proximate cause, such as the number of causes that cause the insurance accident, the relationships between the causes, properties of the causes, burden of proof, interrelationships between the insurance risks and insurance subjects and so on.In chapter 3, the thesis firstly pointed out that the application of the principle of proximate cause is inseparable from the induction of judicial practice. Secondly, according to the properties of the risks, the cases are divided into two categories, which are that all causes for losses in one case are covered by the policy or not covered by the policy, and parts of causes for losses in one case are covered by the policy, then the latter is further subdivided into several typical situations, such as causing losses respectively, causing losses collectively, aggravating incidents, reasons and consequences , and intervening incidents, so that we can detail specific operations of the principle of proximate cause. In chapter 4, the thesis discusses that the application of the principle of proximate cause is limited or even excluded in some situations which include the specific agreements in insurance contracts, expressly statements in the law, duty to inform, extended losses caused by the insurant, the insurant knowingly or intentionally, the captain or master's faults and so on. The insurant shall comply with the provisions of the contract and the law to fulfill his obligations so that he can obtain the compensation after the insurance accident happens, and will not be rejected to pay because of the insurer's defenses.In chapter 5, the thesis recommends an amendment of the provisions of Article 237 in Chinese Marine Law to introduce the principle of proximate cause, and puts forward the corresponding modification of the proposal. Then it points out that it is not enough to introduce a foreign legal issue only through a general and abstract provision in law. And the principle is still difficult to operate in judicial practice after it is introduced. Therefore, it is necessary to improve and refine the application of the principle of proximate cause continually through the concrete practice of China's marine insurance.