Maritime Liens System

Maritime liens is one of the characteristics that Law of Marine Commodity has, but something often goes wrong due to the differences between the fundamental laws of each nation. In China, Law of Marine Commodity was made later than most nations, leading to immaturity in the field of theoretical study of the priority, and to misunderstanding in practice. This article deals with maritime liens, analyzes the law-making of the right in China by referring to the international conventions and the related laws of some major marine countries, and comes up with my own points as well as suggestions on improving the law.The first chapter deals with the origin of maritime liens, theories of various kinds, the development around the world, and the tendency of its conformity internationally. It also presents definitions on the priority by the western scholars, analyzes what the definition of the Chinese equivalent means, and puts forward the view that this definition fails to indicate the nature and that the priority and the marine request are actually a relation between the guaranteed and the guarantor. Besides, the chapter talks about how the western scholars understand the legal characteristics of the priority, explains that it has the characteristics of legality, secret, sub-ordinativeness, priority, and validity, and illustrates that its nature is right of entity and that of legal assurance instead of creditor's right or right of procedure.The second chapter deals with the object, the subject, and the content, and meanwhile comes up with my own points and suggestions by referring to Law of Marine Commodity, the international conventions and the related laws of the major marine countries.The third chapter talks about some related theories and regulations, such as attainment, transfer, and elimination, and makes the suggestion that it is necessary to include the executive confiscation and auction as one of the causes of elimination of maritime liens.The fourth chapter concerns the ways that maritime liens in the British & American legal system and the Continental legal system operates respectively, and focuses much on how maritime liens in China operates, on its relationship with such procedures as detaining of ships, assurance and bankruptcy, on the discussion about some important matters in legal practice, and on the suggestion that the Priority should be realized in priority as right of assurance in the procedure of bankruptcy.The fifth chapter deals with the relationship between maritime liens and the limitations to responsibilities for marine compensation. It compares them two in five aspects, analyzes the impact that the limitations have on the priority, presents the solution made by the international conventions to them, and the solution to the overcoming the deficiency in the related law in China.