Research On The Jurisdiction Problem Of The Sunken Warship From The Perspective Of The Protection Of The Underwater Cultural Heritage

Although the warship usually enjoy sovereign immunity and can only be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the flag state,it is controversial whether the warship can continue to be exclusively under the jurisdiction of the flag state after it has sunken in the jurisdiction of other countries.The paper focuses on the jurisdiction problem of the sunken warship from the perspective of the protection of the underwater cultural heritage(UCH).It studies the causes and relevant international practices on this problem.After that,based on the previous research,it analyzes the deficiencies of China's relevant legislation and puts forward suggestions for perfecting the system.Specifically,the full text is divided into four chapters.The first chapter,is an overview of this paper.On one hand,the definition and characteristics of the sunken warship described in this paper is clarified by combining the definition of 'warship' in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and'underwater cultural heritage' in Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.The purpose of this part is to lay the foundation for further analysis of the jurisdiction problem of the sunken warship.On the other hand,the connotation and extension of the jurisdiction of sunken warship are analyzed accorting to the current academic definition of the jurisdiction and the research results,and its research value is clarified in combination with the special legal property.The second chapter studies the sovereign immunity of the sunken warship.The essence of solving the jurisdiction problem of the sunken warship is to balance and coordinate the sovereignty immunity of the sunken warship's flag state and the territorial jurisdiction conflict of the coastal state where the sunken warship is located.Therefore,this part analyzes the source of the sunken warship's sovereignty immunity and the disputes on the sunken warship's sovereignty immunity.The above analysis makes it clear that the flag state should enjoy the sovereign immunity of the sunken warship,but the enjoyment of the sovereign immunity does not mean that its flag state has exclusive jurisdiction over the sunken warship.The management and protection of the sunken warship also need to be achieved through international cooperation.The third chapter is to study the current international conventions and the practices of various countries.At present,some of the provisions in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage have the possibility to apply;to the sunken warships described in this paper.Therefore,this part focuses on analyzing the specific provisions of these two conventions on the jurisdiction of sunken warship,identifying the shortcomings and making suggestions for improvement.In addition,this chapter also analyzes the practice of various countries dealing with the jurisdiction problem of the sunken warship.Because different countries have difference in ocean power,their attitudes are also different.This part mainly compares the attitudes and practices of European and American countries with stronger ocean power,like England,America and France,and ASEAN countries with weaker ocean power.These analyses will be used to provide reference for the formulation or modification of relevant laws in China.The fourth chapter is to analyze the current laws and regulations in China in combination with the above research,find out the shortcomings and make suggestions for improvement.At present,there are three main deficiencies.First,the status of the sunken warship is unclear.Second,there is a confusion of ownership and jurisdiction over the sunken warship.Third,the jurisdiction over the sunken warship is too narrow.In view of these three issues,this chapter combines the international conventions and the practices of various countries above to suggest that we should clarify the special status of the sunken warship,separate the ownership and jurisdiction by law and adjust the jurisdiction over the sunken warship in future.