The Application Of The Law Of Limitation Of Liability For Maritime Claims

Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims is an ancient maritime legal system. It plays an important role in promoting the development of maritime transport. But the country-specific regulations are not the same, and norms of private international law among states are different, so the uncertainty of legal relations will occur when specific cases happen.For the problems above, with intent to suggest for the legislative and judicial activities of China, this article will undertake comparative studies in the application of laws for the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. This article is divided into four chapters.The first chapter elaborates the concept and history of the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, and then introduces the generation of conflicts of laws in this field. The system of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims means that when a navigation accident happens or other significant civil liability occurs because of the acts of master, crew and others concerned, without the fault or knowledge or participation of ship owner, etc., the liability for damages could be limited according to the system, which has a long history. As the laws of limitation of liability for maritime in different countries are different from each other, and the relevant international conventions on the maritime legal issues are not consistent, the conflicts of laws occurs in the judicial practice of law. Additionally, the applicable rules of law in national laws and international conventions are not the same, the application of laws of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims becomes complicated.The second chapter elaborates the aptitudes for the application of laws of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims and relevant cases in the world. There are two main theory schools called"single theory"and"split theory". The"single theory"holds that the laws of a state should be applied on the whole case according to the conflict law. The"split theory"holds that the legal issues in one case should be separated, and different applicable laws should be applied to each different issues according to the conflict laws. Based on the two theories, different countries characterize legal issues in one case in different ways, which are embodied in statute laws and judicial practices.The second chapter further elaborates the two different legal systems of the application of laws which are called"single system"and"split system"developed from the"single theory"and the"split theory"respectively. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, and also have their own value base."Single system"focuses on judicial efficiency, and expands the scope of national law, but also induces the forum shopping;"Split system"focuses on equity, and requires for higher qualified judges, and the process could be more complex. However, with the development of maritime transportation, the"split system"theory for the application of laws on the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims becomes more and more dominant in national legislation and judicial practice in the countries, and is also increasingly adopted by relevant international conventions.The fourth chapter is to inquiry the status of our country's legislative and judicial practice. China's laws on legal application of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims are relatively few. Article 275 of the Maritime Law of China concentrated the country's position on this issue, namely, to solely apply the Fori, which is China's law. Also, China implements this position in the relevant judicial practice. This practice has its foundation in the developing stage of China's legal system. But with the deepening of international exchanges, there should be the need for reform. Finally, the conclusion comes. I believe that in the issue of the application of the law of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, the"split system"is better for the fairness in administration of justice, increases the certainty of application of law, be better for the development of maritime transportation, and also conforms to the international trend. Therefore, proposals should be that China's law should divide the legal issues of Legal Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims by their nature, and apply the most closely associated law to them.