Features of the Application of International Private Law in Maritime Transport
Authors: Koval V. N. 
Published: July 2024

INTRODUCTION. This article analyzes in detail the most relevant provisions of the norms of private international law in the maritime transport of goods– the Hague, Hague-Visby, Hamburg and Rotterdam Rules. The development of maritime conventions on the carriage of goods by sea is studied from minimum standards establishing the obligations and responsibilities of the carrier to detailed uniﬁed legal systems regulating bill of lading. The development of regulation of the most important institutions is analyzed: the responsibility and duties of the carrier; the responsibility of the shipper; novels about transport records.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. A special place in the study is given to conducting a comparative analysis, identifying diﬀerences between the provisions of maritime conventions on cargo transportation, as well as studying the main advantages and disadvantages of the convention ﬁxing the basic rules aimed at regulating relations on cross-border cargo transportation by sea.

RESEARCH RESULTS. The evolution of the provisions of the maritime conventions demonstrates their modernization in each subsequent version, with a tendency to expand the scope of territorial and substantive application, including more modern regulation of such important areas in the ﬁeld of international transportation as carrier liability and the transfer of the burden of proof, detailing the regulation of the use of bills of lading. The thesis is substantiated that the mutual coexistence of three international regimes regulating maritime transport (the Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules) violated its uniformity. The implementation of the provisions of the Rotterdam Convention, which contain detailed regulation of all parties to the contract for the carriage of goods by sea, in the future will contribute to ﬁlling legal gaps that until then were ﬁlled by the norms of national legislation, which, in turn, led to diﬀerences between the legal norms of individual countries and to a signiﬁcant number of court proceedings. To solve the problem of international legal conﬂicts, in our opinion, it is necessary to reach a consensus on the ratiﬁcation of an international act that would unify the rules for the international carriage of goods by sea. For sovereign states, it is relevant to adopt such regulations that will protect the interests of the relevant carriers, as well as the possibility of ratifying conventions with reservations and exceptions.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The study substantiates the conclusion that it is necessary to improve the controversial norms of national legislation, as a result of which judicial proceedings arise, and the inclusion of the norms of modern international maritime conventions containing relevant and useful provisions for participants in these legal relations in the legislation of the Russian Federation, taking into account the mechanism of inﬂuence of foreign law on contractual and non-contractual relations between legal entities and individuals, and also on the basis of maintaining a balance of interests of large shipping and cargo companies in Russia.