Research On Issues Relating To Possessory Lien On Vessel

A possessory lien on vessel, namely, is a kind of possessory lien which takes vessel as its object. It is an independent type of real right for security on vessel which parallels maritime liens and ship mortgages. As a kind of statutory real right for security, possessory lien on vessel has irreplaceable functions in many aspects, such as the appropriate protection of specific creditors' legal interests and the propagation of the principle of equity and the spirit of good faith in our social economic life. It is the most realistic and reliable security institution in the present system of real rights for warranty on vessel. However, in maritime practice nowadays, hardly could we find the application of other types of possessory lien on vessel except for the ones enjoyed by shipbuilders and ship-repairers. It can be said that the intrinsic values and functions of possessory lien on vessel as a legal system have been concealed greatly in practice. The appearance of such a discordant situation can be mainly attributed to such a fact that the maritime legislation of China and related international conventions failed to survey correctly the inherent social significance of possessory lien on vessel and preferred excessively to protect the interests of those creditors enjoying maritime liens and ship mortgages, which deprives the potential creditors who should have enjoyed possessory liens on vessel of their expectable rights, existing as legal defects, and thus should be revised urgently. Based on such a condition, this thesis strives for finding and settling various issues on different levels of possessory lien on vessel through analyzing and discussing the existent legal rules and theoretical findings related thereto, enriches and deepens the theoretical system of possessory lien on vessel, aiming to, from the perspective of theory, propel the perfection of legal system of possessory liens on vessel under CMC and effectively preserve the legal benefits of specific creditors enjoying possessory liens on vessel.This thesis could be divided into five parts on structure: the first part briefly analyzes and introduces some basic theoretical issues pertaining to possessory lien on vessel, such as definition, legal characteristics, legal status, types and objects, etc; the second part discusses the legal effects of possessory lien on vessel, including the scope of creditor's rights it guarantees, its effects towards creditor, debtor and ship-owner, and its discharge order in the system of real rights for security on vessel, etc; the third part analyzes and expatiates the changes of possessory lien on vessel from the perspectives of its acquirement and termination, and roughly discusses its realization based on its particularity in the conditions, manners and procedure thereof; the forth part imposes a brief analysis on the so-called "revival" of possessory lien on vessel with reference to the common theory about the "revival" of possessory lien in civil law, and meanwhile, gives necessary explanations of the similar "recovery" of possessory lien on vessel and the application of law on possessory lien on vessel in foreign-related cases; the fifth part serves as the conclusions of this thesis, which expounds the author's ideas about the future legislation on the legal system of possessory lien on vessel in China. It involves two respects: substantive law and procedural law.