“National maritime laws tend to cover a vast array of legal matters”
Title:
“National Maritime Laws tend to cover a vast array of legal matters”. Justify
Abstract:
This research paper focuses on the National Maritime Laws. This research paper not only describes the National Maritime Laws, but also tells us the History of Maritime Law, The national maritime law of Bangladesh and National Maritime Laws and Legal matters on International scale. In this report in the first part we are discussing about the National Maritime Law. Then we are briefly discussing the History of Maritime law and the maritime law of Bangladesh. At the last part we are discussing about Legal matters on International scale. After that we are giving a conclusion. From the conclusion part we can have the overall finding of the research and the learning.
Keywords: Maritime Law, National Maritime Law, Waterline, Maritime Court, International Maritime Law
Introduction:
Before talking about the topic, “National maritime laws tend to cover a vast array of legal matters” we need to have a clear idea about the National Maritime Law and it’s applications. Liability for common-law wrongs is enforced by the maritime law of the United States and the United Kingdom. Maritime torts include all illegal acts or direct injuries arising in connection with commerce and navigation occurring on navigable waters, including negligence and the wrongful taking of property. The law permits recovery only for actual damages. Maritime law also recognizes and enforces contracts and awards damages for failure to fulfill them. Some aspects of ocean law affect relationships among nations. Issues of neutrality and belligerency that occur in wartime are dealt with in international law. 1 It has always been recognized that the best way of improving safety at sea is by developing international regulations that are followed by all shipping nations and from the mid-19th century onwards a number of such treaties were adopted. Several countries proposed that a permanent international body should be established to promote maritime safety more effectively, but it was not until the establishment of the United Nations itself that these hopes were realized. In 1948 an international conference in Geneva adopted a convention formally establishing IMO.
1 see http://www.comitemaritime.org/History/0,273,1332,00.html Accessed on March 26, 2013
2 see http://www.imo.org/About/Pages/Default.aspx Accessed on March 26, 2013
What is Maritime Law?
National Maritime Law includes norms from various branches of the law. This is due to the complexity of maritime operations and the need to cover the broad set of questions linked to activities at sea. It is obvious, that national Maritime Law should be part of the legal system of states that have coastal zones under their jurisdiction.
It is also defined like, branch of law relating to commerce and navigation on the high seas and on other navigable waters. Specifically, the term refers to the body of customs, legislation, international treaties, and court decisions pertaining to ownership and operation of vessels, transportation of passengers and cargo on them, and rights and obligations of their crews while in transit.4 Maritime LAW is also called “admiralty law” or “the law of admiralty,” the laws and regulations, including international agreements and treaties, which exclusively govern activities at sea or in any navigable waters. In the United States federal courts have jurisdiction over maritime law.5 Although each legal jurisdiction usually has its own enacted legislation governing maritime matters, admiralty law is characterized by a significant amount of international law developed in recent decades, including numerous multilateral treaties.
History of Maritime Law:
Seaborne transport was one of the earliest channels of commerce, and rules for resolving disputes involving maritime trade were developed early in recorded history. Early historical records of these laws include the Rhodian law (Nomos Rhodion Nautikos, of which no primary written specimen has survived, but which is alluded to in other legal texts: Roman and Byzantine legal codes) and later the customs of the Hanseatic League. In southern Italy the Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris (1063) at Trani and the Amalfian Laws were in effect from an early date.6 Islamic law also made major contributions to international admiralty law, departing from the previous Roman and Byzantine maritime laws in several ways. These included <href=”#Age_of_discovery” title=”Islamic economics in the world”>Muslim sailors being paid a fixed wage “in advance” with an understanding that they would owe money in the event of desertion or malfeasance, in keeping with Islamic conventions in which contracts should specify a known fee for a known duration.7 After maritime activity was resumed in the Middle Ages, various disputes arose and laws were formulated to deal with them. Gradually the laws of the sea were compiled; among the best-known collections of early maritime law are the Laws of Oleron and the Black Book of the Admiralty, an English compilation prepared during the 14th and 15th centuries. Special courts to administer sea laws were set up in some countries. In Britain today, maritime law is administered by courts of the admiralty.
National Maritime Law in Bangladesh:
According to one of the leading Law firm of Bangladesh, The Lawyers & Jurists, In Pursuant to Article 143(3) of the Constitution, Bangladesh enacted laws, Territorial Waters & Maritime zones Act on 14 February, 1974, with regard to the law of the sea in the Bay of Bengal while ratifying 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS-III) in 2001.The coastal marine areas of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal are divided into three zones under the (UNCLOS-III): territorial waters of 12 nautical miles, another 200nm of EEZ and 350 nm of sea bed, continental shelf from Bangladesh baseline. For the unique deltaic characteristics of its coast, Bangladesh determined the baseline in 1974 with a length of 222 nm which is 8 points fixed at 10 fathoms (60ft) extending to 10-30 miles from the coastline. However, the total sea area of Bangladesh in accordance with the UNCLOS-III is approximately 2,07,000 square kilometers, 1.4 times greater than its total land area.8 Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It has achieved tremendous progress in agricultural sector but still finds it difficult to feed the nation. Apart from controlling the population through strict family planning, it has to educate and train the human resources to turn them into useful manpower.9 It has to diversify its economy. One possible avenue is the maritime sector. Bangladesh is a small country with a vast coastline in the south. It is through the sea that we will find this new avenue of our economic success.
National Maritime Laws and Legal matters on International scale:
Some aspects of ocean law affect relationships among nations. Issues of neutrality and belligerency that occur in wartime are dealt with in international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982 but not yet in force, addresses ocean law issues, including rights of navigation and over flight, fishing, marine scientific research, seabed minerals development, and marine environmental protection. It allows each coastal nation to exercise sovereignty over a territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles (22 km/14 mi) wide and jurisdiction over resources, scientific research, and environmental protection in an exclusive economic zone up to 200 nautical miles (370 km/230 mi) offshore; beyond this zone, seabed minerals development will be regulated by an international body. The U.S. has not signed the accord because it objects to the system for minerals development in the international seabed, but it has generally endorsed all other provisions of the convention.10 National Maritime Law is made up of norms from various branches of national law, united by a common subject of legal regulation: the use of the sea in all its forms. At present, Maritime Law includes both norms of national law, referring to various branches of law (civil, administrative, criminal, etc.), and norms of international public and international private law. Therefore it has been agreed that modern Maritime Law should have three constituents.
National maritime law very commonly referred to as Merchant Shipping Act will reflect the provisions of all international instruments to which the state is a party. However, when making reference to casualty investigation it will evidently not make references under every relevant instrument but make one single reference. However, it is necessary to make certain points absolutely clear. First of all national legislation must make it obligatory on the part of the owner and master of every ship under its flag to notify the administration of any accident or casualty; damage to person, ship or its equipment or cargo or other ship or property or any damage to the environment.11 Similarly the law must also require every foreign ship having met or come across similar incident within its waters to report to the administration.
Conclusion:
From the discussion above we can easily say that, National Maritime Laws surely tend to cover a vast of legal matters. Country’s sustainable development is possible through proper management of the sea and sea resources. The more a country could exploit the sea resources, the more it progressed. Maritime law and maritime commerce are fields of human activity ripe for consideration of these issues. Few maritime ventures are undertaken without a complex interconnection of international participants. Though not all are in direct legal relations with each other, the conduct by each of its part in the venture will generally have an effect on the safety or commercial. So, we can say it with confidence that, National Maritime Laws surely tend to cover a vast of legal matters.
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