Differences in legal provisions governing the relations of merchant shipping, and differences in the content of concepts and institutions of private maritime law in different countries engender the uncertainty regarding the jurisdiction of a dispute, the applicable law of substance, as well as implementation of decisions passed by a competent law application authority in the territory of a foreign State, thereby giving rise to the problem of conflict. The author regards the conflict-of-laws method as an efficient method of overcoming conflicts in this area; however, this method should be implemented with due regard for today’s trends in re-comprehension of its role and functions.

This article aims at ascertaining, based on a comprehensive analysis of theoretical and legislative provisions, the current state of the system of conflict-of-laws rules of international private maritime law in Ukraine in order to build an understanding of the level of their effectiveness and compliance with modern trends in the development of international private law.

The author notes that the issue of overcoming conflicts in maritime law has been partly resolved via international legal unification of substantive rules but, generally, this process is stressful and too much politicized, it may be accompanied by difficulties of theoretical and practical nature, and this prompts to reconsider the role of conflict-of-laws method, to update, perhaps, the array of conflict-of-laws rules, and to use combined forms and methods of convergence and interaction of national legal systems.

Based on the analysis of theoretical provisions of international private law, conflictoflaws rules and principles enshrined in national legislation (Merchant Shipping Code of Ukraine, hereinafterMSC of Ukraine) and international treaties of Ukraine, the article proves that Ukrainian law comprises a large number of conflict-of-laws rules which areapplicable to a wide scope of merchant shipping relations.

The author provides justification for setting out, within the framework of international private law, a special sub-branch – international private maritime law which has great importance, given the prospective development of the Ukrainian maritime industry. The author ascertains that the specific features of merchant shipping relations also determine the specifics of methods for conflict resolution, and this was expressed in the development of specific connecting factors - principles: the law of the flag, various modifications of the law of the port, the law of the place of collision, and so on. It is noted that the trend of development of conflict-of-laws rules can be seen in the increasing variability of conflict-of-laws rules, in the change of the dominant role of unilateral connecting factors, and in the change of the ways of regulating “sea” conflicts: from rigid to flexible ones.

Finally, a conclusion is made that the system of conflict-of-laws rules of international private maritime law of Ukraine has effective tools for overcoming conflicts and is developing in line with modern trends seen in the development of international private law in general. The author substantiates the need to revise MSC of Ukraine with a view to improving the systematization of conflict-of-laws rules, and proposes to set out a special section to combine all of conflict-of-laws rules, since this would provide for a greater clarity of this system and the ease of its use.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Tetley W, International Conflicts of Laws: Common, Civil and Maritime (Les Editions Yvon Blais 1994) (in English).

2. Tetley W, Maritime Liens and Claims (2nd edn, Les Edition Yvon Blais 1998) (in English).

3. Anufrieva L, Sootnoshenie mezhdunarodnogo publichnogo i mezhdunarodnogo chastnogo prava: pravovye kategorii [Correlation of International Public Law and International Private Law] (Spark 2002) (in Russian).

4. Gureev S, Kollizionnye problemy morskogo prava [Conflicts of Maritime Law] (Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija 1972) (in Russisn).

5. Ivanov G і Makovskij A, Mezhdunarodnoe chastnoe morskoe pravo [International Private Maritime Law] (Sudostroenie 1984) (in Russian).

6. Lunc L, Kurs mezhdunarodnogo chastnogo prava [The International Private Law Course] (Spark 2002) (in Russian).

7. Zvekov V, Kollizii zakonov v mezhdunarodnom chastnom prave [Conflicts of Laws in International Private Law] (Volters Kluver 2007) (in Russian).

Edited books

8. Baatz Y, ‘The Conflict of Laws’ in Baatz Y (ed), Maritime Law (4th edn, Informa Law from Routledge 2018) (in English).

9. Rühl G, ‘Party Autonomy in the Private International Law of Contracts: Transatlantic Convergence and Economic Efficiency’ in Gottschalk E, Michaels R, Rühl G and von Hein J (eds), Conflicts of Laws in a Globalized World (Cambridge University Press 2007) (in English).

10. Kysil V, ‘Koliziini normy’ [‘Conflict of Law Rules’] u Dovhert A i Kysil V (red), Mizhnarodne pryvatne pravo [International Private Law] (Alerta 2012) (in Ukrainian).

Journal articles

11. Yiannopoulos A, ‘The Unification of Private Maritime Law by International Conventions’ (1965) 30 Law and Contemporary Problems 372 (in English).

12. Merezhko A, ‘Psihologicheskaja teorija mezhdunarodnogo chastnogo prava’ [‘Psychological Theory of International Private Law’] (2012) 6 Rossijskij juridicheskij zhurnal 52 (in Russian).

13. Streltsova Ye, ‘Shchodo sprob mizhnarodno-pravovoi unifikatsii okremykh instytutiv morskoho prava’ [‘On the Attempts of the International Unification of Certain Branches of Maritime Law’] (2014) 11 Naukovyi Visnyk Mizhnarodnoho humanitarnoho universytetu 161 (in Ukrainian).

Conference papers

14. Streltsova Ye, ‘Uniform International Maritime Law as a Tool for Facilitating Maritime Dispute Resolution’ v Kanzafarova I (red), Chetverti yurydychni dysputy z aktualnykh problem pryvatnoho prava: Mizhnarodna naukovo-praktychna konferentsiia, prysviachena pam’iati Ye.V.Vaskovskoho [Fourth Legal Debates on the Topical Issues of Pivate Law: International and Scientific Conference Dedicated to the Memory of Ie V Vaskovskiy] (Astroprynt 2014) (in English).

Websites

15. ‘Baltime 1939 (as revised 2001)’ (Contracts and clauses. BIMCO) <https://www.bimco. org/contracts-and-clauses/bimco-contracts/baltime-1939-as-revised-2001> (accessed: 08.05.2020). 16. ‘Gencon 1994’ (Contracts and clauses. BIMCO) <https://www.bimco.org/contractsandclauses/bimco-contracts/gencon-1994#> (accessed: 08.05.2020).