The Study On The Legal Aspects Of Port State Responsibility Under Public Health Emergencies Of International Concern

Many ships involved in public health emergencies have their requests for port calls denied by port states,and different port states may take different approaches,and ships involved in the epidemic may be rescued in time or maybe continuously bounced from port to port waiting for rescue.However,because of the special nature of public health emergencies at sea,the failure of port states to provide timely assistance will result in a major outbreak on board.Therefore,it is necessary to explore the impact that public health emergencies may have on port states and what causes port states to make different decisions.The problems revealed by such incidents include not only the problems in international conventions but also the real problems of port states themselves.In this regard,it is necessary to propose feasible ways to improve the rules of international law and enhance the willingness of port states to rescue,so that the entry of ships involved in the epidemic will no longer be a problem.After the epidemic is recognized by WHO as Public Health Emergency of International Concern(PHEIC for short),it will bring many impacts to port states.According to the relevant international treaties and the domestic laws of port states,PHEIC will make port states bear various responsibilities.Still,there are conflicts or improper connections between these provisions,which makes it difficult for port states to assume responsibilities.In this regard,the port state will face risks if it chooses to assume or refuse to assume responsibility.Depending on the legal basis of port state responsibility arising from public health emergencies and the risks to be borne by port states,there is disagreement as to whether the port states should have the responsibility to accept the ship involved in the epidemic into the ports.A port state may either choose to accept an infected ship or deny its application for entry,even if there is such a disagreement,either approach of the port state can be supported by the relevant laws and regulations.In reality,there are many difficulties in requiring port states to directly receive ships involved in the disease.There are conflicting provisions in different conventions,and the treaties that provide for salvage obligations are contradictory or lacking.In addition,the Regulations do not limit the rights granted to port states or penalize violations of treaty provisions.Combined with the unsatisfactory objective situation of the port state or the inadequate prevention and control mechanism of the epidemic,various reasons lead to the fear of receiving epidemic-related ships in the port state,thus triggering a large-scale epidemic outbreak on board.Therefore,the international legal mechanism should be coordinated and reconstructed to solve the problem of the difficult application of port state laws,while port states should construct a preventive mechanism for themselves and prepare in advance.The international community should improve the provisions of jurisdictional responsibility and the mechanism of responsibility allocation,and formulate corresponding relief measures for port states to eliminate the worries of port states.In addition,the international community should establish a sound international cooperation and dispute settlement mechanism,with WHO as the core,and build a multilateral cooperation and rescue mechanism for public health security,to help port states get rid of their difficulties and stop ships involved in epidemics from repeatedly hitting the wall,thus better improving the ability of the whole international community to deal with public health emergencies.