Ismailova Ramida Mahir,
Master’s student of the II course of the Faculty of Law of the Baku State University, specializing in “Maritime and Energy Law”, specialist of the Law division of the Law and international relations department of the State Maritime and Port Agency
Address: Baku city, Khanlar street 2B
E-mail: [email protected]
A fundamental principle of international maritime law (IML) is the concept of exclusive jurisdictional rights over a ship in international waters belonging to the state under whose flag it is registered. This statement implies that only the said State has the authority to make legislative, judicial and executive decisions regarding a vessel and its crew in international waters outside the territorial waters. For understanding this principle of exclusive jurisdiction of flag state (EJFS), we need to take a deep dive into the concepts of the vessel and its status, and also look at the state that is recognized as the flag state for a given vessel. In addition, we have to analyze the essence of the jurisdiction that turns out to be applicable at sea, and consider the characteristics of the high seas itself in the context of international law.
The vessel is one of the oldest human inventions, the first mention of which dates back to approximately 6 thousand years BC. In general, navigation in the Mediterranean region was very widespread, as evidenced by the fact that during the life of Gaius Julius Caesar the institution of piracy already existed. However, navigation fell into some decline with the advent of the Middle Ages, but we can still note that it was during this period that the Code of Rhodes was created in Byzantium, which regulated maritime legal relations in the Mediterranean until the late Middle Ages [8, р. 20].
The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), while failing to provide a strict definition of a ship, classifies ships according to their manner of navigation, characteristics, and functions and identifies them by the nature and types. On the basis level vessels are divided into commercial and non-profit or governmental vessels. This division is generally accepted in the world. Merchant and fishing vessels are the main types of commercial ships that are the vast majority of the whole maritime fleet of the world. Whilst, non-profit/governmental ships are mostly represented by scientific research ships and warships.
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