Maritime Trade Law (Germany)

German maritime trade law is regulated in the 5th book of the Commercial Code (HGB). General commercial law and the German Civil Code (BGB) are not completely superseded, but apply subsidiary. That means: A general regulation of the BGB or commercial law only applies if the maritime trade law ( lex specialis ) does not contain any more specific regulation.

On April 25, 2013, the law to reform maritime trade law came into force ( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 831 ), which primarily changes the German maritime trade law (§§ 476 ff. HGB) and some changes in general German transport law (§§ 407 ff. HGB).

For old contracts, transitional regulations apply according to Art. 71 of the Introductory Act to the Commercial Code (EGHGB).

Contents of §§ 476 ff. HGB (in the version since April 25, 2013)

• First section: persons involved in shipping: shipowners, outfitters, ship's crew, captain, etc. (§§ 476 - 480 HGB)
• Second section: Contracts of carriage (§§ 481 ff. HGB)
  • First subsection: sea freight contracts
    • First title: general cargo contract
      • First subtitle: General regulations (§§ 481 - 497 HGB)
      • Second subtitle: Liability for loss of or damage to the goods (§§ 498 - 512 HGB)
      • Third subtitle: transport documents, etc. a. Bill of lading (Sections 513-526 HGB)
    • Title two: Travel Freight Contract (Sections 527 - 535 HGB)
  • Second subsection: Passenger transport contracts (Sections 536 - 552 HGB)
• Third section: Ship lease agreements
  • First subsection: Ship rental (§§ 553 - 556 HGB)
  • Second subsection: ship charter (§§ 557 - 569 HGB)
• Fourth section: ship emergencies
  • First subsection: Ship collision (§§ 570 - 573 HGB)
  • Second subsection: Rescue (Sections 574 - 587 HGB)
  • Third subsection: General average (Sections 588 - 595 HGB)
• Fifth section: Ship creditors (§§ 596 - 604 HGB)
• Sixth section: Statute of limitations (§§ 605 - 610 HGB)
• Seventh section: General limitation of liability (§§ 611 - 617 HGB)
• Eighth section: procedural regulations (§§ 618 - 619 HGB)

The history of the reform

The German maritime trade law, which was valid until April 24, 2013, came - with a few changes - essentially from the time of sailing and no longer met the requirements of modern maritime trade law (e.g. also with regard to container shipping that is common today).

• On July 5, 2004, the then Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries ( SPD ) set up an expert committee to reform maritime trade law. The committee was tasked with critically examining the maritime trade law codified in the Commercial Code and supporting the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) in a comprehensive reform of maritime trade law.
• On August 27, 2009, the group of experts presented the final report on the reform of maritime trade law.
• In 2011, the Federal Ministry of Justice submitted a draft bill that provided for changes in German maritime trade law, the transport law of passengers on seagoing vessels, and general transport law.
• On May 9, 2012, the Federal Cabinet passed a corresponding draft law.
• After an expert hearing and the report of the Legal Committee of the German Bundestag on December 12, 2012 (BT-Drs. 17/11884), the Bundestag passed a resolution on December 13, 2012 and that of the Bundesrat on February 1, 2013 (BR-Drs. 8 / 13).
• The law reforming maritime trade law came into force on April 25, 2013.

literature

• on German law: (legal situation until April 24, 2013)
  • Carl Creifelds : Legal Dictionary. Edited by Klaus Weber. 19th revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-55392-9 , keyword: shipowner.
  • Rolf Herber: Maritime Trade Law. Systematic presentation. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1999, ISBN 3-11-016311-X .
  • Rolf Herber: Sea freight contract and multimodal contract. Current developments. 2nd revised edition. RWS-Verlag Kommunikationforum, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-8145-9170-4 ( RWS script 170).
  • Heinz Prüssmann: Maritime trade law. Fifth book of the Commercial Code. With subsidiary regulations and international conventions. Edited by Dieter Rabe. 4th revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-45510-7 ( Beck's short comments 9b).
  • Hans-Jürgen Puttfarken: Maritime Trade Law. Verlag Recht und Wirtschaft, Heidelberg 1997, ISBN 3-8005-1171-1 ( Law series )
  • Thomas Wieske , Transport law quickly captured , 3rd edition 2012, publisher: Springer, ISBN 978-3-642-29726-7
• on German law: (new legal situation from April 25, 2013)
  • Beate Czerwenka, The law for the reform of maritime trade law. Introduction, explanations, synopsis, materials , Bundesanzeiger-Verlag, 1st edition, 2014, ISBN 978-3-89817-967-6
  • Oetker, Short Commentary on the HGB , 4th edition 2015
  • Munich Commentary on HGB, Vol. 7 - Transport Law, 3rd edition, 10/2014, Beck-Verlag Munich [Note: with commentary on ADSp, CMR, MÜ, CMNI, COTIF and the new German sea trade law!]
  • Rolf Herber: Maritime Trade Law. Systematic presentation. , 2nd edition, de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016, ISBN 978-3-89949-211-8 .
  • Dieter Rabe / Kay-Uwe Bahnsen, Maritime Trade Law. Commercial Code and ancillary laws. Commentary , 5th edition, Munich 2017, Verlag CH Beck

Web links

• Text of the Commercial Code
• Internet presence of the German Society for Transport Law e. V., Hamburg
• Institute for Maritime Law and Maritime Trade Law at the University of Hamburg
• Draft law of the Federal Government - Draft of a law to reform maritime trade law of July 12, 2012 (PDF; 2.8 MB)

Individual references and notes

1. ↑ Only mentioned for the sake of completeness, as it is not relevant for maritime trade law : The conditions and rules for sea passenger law (now §§ 536 ff. HGB) and inland passenger law (by reference from § 77 BinSchG to §§ 536 ff HGB) are also changed. See also passenger rights
2. ↑ . See press release of 9 May 2012 on the draft law of the Federal Government with a link to the bill (see also the local legislative intent.) Archived copy ( Memento of the original on 18 May 2012 at the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the BMJ website 
3. ↑ BMJ press release on the appointment of the reform expert group  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Final report of the expert group on the reform of maritime trade law from August 27, 2009 (updated on January 18, 2018 on the website of the German Society for Transport Law eV , since the original link from the BMJV is no longer available.)
5. ↑ A report and statements on it are u. a. on the website of the German Society for Transport Law e. V. under Publications & Documents> designs to find
6. ↑ BMJ press release of May 17, 2011: New legal framework for maritime trade and better protection for ship passengers (accessed on December 27, 2016 on the website of the law firm Konrad Rechtsanwälte , Bad Mergentheim, as the original link from the BMJV is no longer available.) .
7. ↑ draft bill of May 5, 2011 (updated on January 18, 2018 on the website of the German Society for Transport Law eV , as the original link from the BMJV is no longer available) (PDF; 1.6 MB)
8. ↑ Draft law of the federal government of May 9, 2012 (updated on January 18, 2018 on the website of the German Society for Transport Law eV , since the original link from the BMJV is no longer available.)
9. ↑ Overview of the Federal Council's deliberations, including the 906th plenary meeting of the Federal Council on February 1, 2013>
10. ↑ Law on the reform of maritime trade law on the side of the BGH

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