International Maritime Law from the Russian Perspective

Abstract

This book is one of the most comprehensive guides to international maritime law from the Russian perspective. It consists of three relatively independent sections: Russian Maritime Law, International Public Maritime Law, and International Private Maritime Law.

First section discusses the development of the maritime law as a branch of the Russian law. It examines concepts and sources of the Russian federal laws, secondary legislation and customs, including the influences guiding the future of Russian law of the sea. .

The second section examines International Public Maritime Law including the principles, sources, subjects, as well legal status of the vessel, including the vessel's state flag, her name, state registration, the problem of "flags of convenience", vessel's documents, the crew, and the master. This section further details the current international legal regime of maritime spaces, provisions concerning legal protection of marine environments, ensuring navigation safety, international legal regulation of the work of seamen, international inter-governmental marine organizations, and settlement of international public marine disputes.

The third section is devoted to International Private Maritime Law and discusses its principles and sources, conflict-of-law rules, structure and types, and the main choice-of-law principles used today in international private maritime law. This section also discusses the following institutions and sub-branches within international private maritime law including: carriage of cargoes and passengers by sea, general average, salvage, collisions of vessels, marine insurance, limitation of liability, international non-governmental maritime organizations, and settlement of international private marine disputes.



WORDS OF PRAISE

The importance of this book by Vasiliy N. Gutsulyak can hardly be overestimated. The need for publishing such a book is evident, and has been long awaited. Suffice it to say that no fundamental work on maritime law has been published for over a decade where such an extensive range of principles and regulatory material regarding nearly all the problems relating to use of sea transport and world oceans has been summarized. In fact, not one serious question of the current maritime law remains outside the author's attention in this book. In this respect, this work is an encyclopedic guide to maritime law. The author prepared a unified and complex monographic work, which reflects the current state of the Russian and international maritime law, including substantial changes in the Russian legislation and the recent innovations in international law.

This book is bound to contribute to the development of the science of international maritime law, and, with no doubt, will be in demand both for educational purposes and practical activities related to commercial shipping.
G.G. Shinkaretskaya, Doctor of legal sciences, Professor, Principal Researcher in the Branch of International Legal Researches of the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

This comprehensive book is bound to be required reading for learning both Russian and international laws. The work is methodically consistent, well-structured, and is written in a good, intelligible language. For these reasons, I believe that it is well-adapted for educational technologies, and will be of value not only to practical experts and students, but to all those who have an interest in the modern law of the sea.
G.G. Ivanov, Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor

The personal contribution of the author to the science of international law is obvious. The book of professor Gutsulyak V.N. is a landmark in law.... [for] research activities as well as for teaching courses in higher education . In addition, [this book should be] of great interest to practitioners of foreign trade, as well as for captains, lawyers and cadets.
R. A. Kalamkaryan, Doctor of Law Sciences, Professor

There is no doubt that this book is a significant contribution to the development of the modern science of international maritime law and will be of interest to international lawyers, practitioners, one way or another related to maritime activities, undergraduate and graduate students of law specialties, as well as a broader readership.
Gennady Egiyan, Maritime law PhD, Board Member of the Russian Association of International Maritime Law

About the Author

Vasiliy Gutsulyak is a doctor of legal sciences and professor, an Honorary Worker of Sea Fleet, and has worked in field of Maritime law for most of his career. He has a both a nautical (navigation) and legal education, and has published over one hundred papers in the field of Maritime law. He currently lives in Moscow.