Study On The Liability Limitation Problem Of Port Operators

Port,as the connecting point of the international trade and the maritime cargo transportation,plays an important role in the maritime transportation.However, there is still no specialized law adjusting the civil legal relationship in our country. The Harbor Law only adjusts the port administrative legal relationship,and the legislation on the liability limitation of port operators is not clear.In recent years,a number of compensation disputes initiated by cargo owners suing the port operators for the cargo damages occurred,the core point of which mainly focus on whether port operators have right to limit their liability.As for this problem,the courts' judgments are widely divergent and the opinions of theorists are also different.This dissertation intends to lay port operators in the maritime cargo transportation legal relationship,on the basis of clearly defining the legal status of port operators,starts from the origin of the liability limitation problem of port operators,concludes the international legislation trend on the liability limitation problem of port operators through the study on international conventions and the domestic law of foreign countries(regions),and analyzes the relevant legislative and judicial status quo in our country,then probes into the rationality of giving port operators liability limitation in our country,and finally explores the best way to give port operators legal right to limit their liability under the legislative and judicial status quo in our country.Besides Preface and Conclusion,this dissertation is divided into four chapters as follows:Chapter 1 mainly clarifies the legal status of port operators,and analyzes the relationship of the liability limitation of port operators,the limitation of liability for maritime claims and the unit limitation of carrier's liability,pointing out that during the expansion process of the "Himalaya Clause" the port operators tried to invoke the unit limitation of carrier's liability which initiated the liability limitation problem of port operators. Chapter 2 introduces the legislation regarding the liability limitation of port operators under the international conventions and the domestic law of foreign countries(regions),and focuses on the analysis of new development of the latest international convention "Rotterdam Rules" on this problem,and points out that the international legislation trend on this problem is giving liability limitation right to the port operators.Chapter 3 mainly discusses the legislative and judicial status quo regarding the liability limitation problem of port operators in our country and then points out that the ambiguity state of the legislation regarding this problem directly causes the confusion of courts' judges in our country.Chapter 4 probes into the rationality of giving port operators liability limitation in our country,believing that the port operators shall be entitled to limit their liability in light of the Carrier's unit limitation of liability.After discussing the feasibility of various of ways to give the port operators liability limitation right,the writer finds that giving port operators legal right to limit their liability by stipulating separately in the Maritime Law in light of the Carrier's unit limitation of liability is the most feasible and valid method in a short term.