On The Principle Of Causality In The Marine Insurance Act

The relation between causes and effects plays an important role in the maritime law. The relation between causes and effects in the field of maritime insurance is more complicated than that in the field of the law of carriage of goods and law of tort in that for some a maritime insurance damage there may be several causes at work simultaneously. Under such condition, it is difficult to judge whether the insurer is liable, so it is high necessary to make use of the causation theory.There are few studies on the causation theory even though it does have great influence on the deciding of the insurers' liability. What's more, as a country of continental legal system, our nation has little stipulation about this momentous theory no matter in the Insurance Law or maritime Insurance law; as a result we often borrow the proximate cause principle of Anglo-American law. Therefore, a thorough study on the causation theory and the proximate cause principle is highly demanded. Based on the actual legal environment, this article makes a further study and proposes some advice on how to utilize the causation theory, which is also the author's purpose.Chapter one is mainly about the concept of causation in the philosophy. The infrastructure and doctrine both in the continental legal system and case law system are discussed here.Chapter two is mainly about the proximate cause principle. The criteria on how to judge the proximate cause, the general rules on deciding a proximate cause when several causes at work simultaneously, and the ways to revise the proximate cause principle are all discussed in this chapter.Chapter three is mainly about the how the causation theory is defined and applied. The causation theory in Norwegian Maritime Insurance Law, specifically the pro rata liability principle is thoroughly discussed here; the practice on the causation of the Japanese insurance is analyzed here.Chapter four is mainly about the causation theories and its practice in Chinese law and also on the current situation of legislation, namely, whether there is legislation in Chinese insurance law or maritime law, how the law would be amended. The third part of chapter four is mainly about how to introduce the proximate cause principle into Chinese insurance law and maritime law. Through a thorough analyzing of the deficiency of Chinese insurance law and the maritime law, the lacking of legislation about the proximate cause principle for the practice, and the demand of legal foundation of the insurance market, this part shows the importance of introducing the proximate cause principle into Chinese law, and also puts forward some advice to resolve the contradiction between the law and practice.