Research On The Limitation System Of Liability Of Cruise Company In Cruise Tourism In China

With the improvement of people’s consumption level in China,cruise tourism as a new tourism mode has developed rapidly,which plays an important role in promoting the development of tourism economy and maritime transport industry in China.However,with the continuous expansion of cruise tourism market,the problem of cruise passengers’ personal and property infringement has emerged.Due to the imperfect legislation of cruise tourism in China,on the one hand,the legal relationship among cruise companies,travel agencies and passengers is complex,and the legal system lags behind in practice.It is difficult to play its due role in the face of emerging new challenges,resulting in passengers often unable to recover losses after being infringed on their rights and interests.At the same time,these defects also hinder the economic field.On the other hand,as an important part of cruise tourism relations,cruise companies are the main undertakers of legal liability for cruise tourism,clarifying the powers and responsibilities of cruise companies,clarifying the liability of cruise companies and the limitation of compensation liability,and improving the current system of limitation of compensation liability of cruise companies are conducive to solving the problems arising in practice and ensuring that passenger losses can be realized.Compensation and maintaining the balance of interests between cruise companies and passengers are conducive to the long-term development of cruise tourism.Therefore,this paper mainly studies the limitation of liability rights of cruise companies in cruise tourism.By analyzing the characteristics of cruise tourism,it combs the legal relationship between cruise companies,travel agencies and passengers in cruise tourism,analyses the legal status of cruise companies from a legal point of view,and applies the method of legal hermeneutics to the current relevant legal system in China concerning cruise ships.This paper makes an analysis of the relevant provisions on the liability and limitation of the company,analyses the legislative experience of cruise companies and international conventions with great influence in various countries,draws lessons from their mature systems,and finally makes suggestions on how to clarify the liability and limitation rights of the cruise companies,and how to improve the relevant systems in light of China’s actual national conditions.The full text is divided into three parts: introduction,body and conclusion.The text has the following five chapters.The first chapter of this paper mainly discusses the basic theory of cruise tourism.Firstly,it clarifies the basic concepts of cruise and cruise tourism,divides the main body of cruise tourism,including cruise companies,passengers and travel agencies,and analyses the specific mode of cruise tourism at home and abroad,and introduces the unique charter tourism mode in China.On this basis,the legal status of cruise companies in China’s cruise tourism model is analyzed,including the status of cruise companies as performance aids of travel agencies,and the status of carriers when providing passengers with maritime passenger transport services.By clarifying the legal status of the cruise company,it is convenient to analyze the responsibilities and limitations of the cruise company under different identities.Section 3 introduces the relevant theories of carrier’s limitation of liability system,distinguishes unit’s limitation of liability and comprehensive limitation of liability,combs the historical development of limitation of liability system in maritime field,and compares the difference between the limitation of liability system of cruise company and traditional carrier’s limitation of liability system in cruise tourism.The second chapter of the paper studies the provisions of the limitation system of liability of cruise companies in the relevant laws and regulations of our country.This paper analyses the types of liability assumed by cruise companies at different stages and identities and the relevant legal provisions on liability limitation.This part mainly refers to the domestic laws such as Maritime Code,Contract Law,Tort Liability Law and the provisions on the limitation of carrier’s liability in the 1974 Athens Convention to which China has acceded.By introducing relevant judicial precedents,the situation and consequences of the loss of the right to limit liability are analyzed.The third chapter collates the limitations of the current system of limitation of liability of cruise companies in China.Mainly includes that the current system of our country can not meet the special requirements of cruise ships,such as foreign cruise companies evade their due legal liability through their standard contract terms,and make provisions in the limit of liability and immunity of liability in order to mitigate their own liability.There are also disputes about the application of limitation of liability by Cruise companies.It is unreasonable in practice that the division of "shipping accident" and "non-shipping accident" is used as a criterion to judge whether the carrier has the right to limitation of liability.In addition,whether the carrier has the right to limitation of liability in the stage of land tourism is also an important aspect for cruise companies to mitigate their liability.Compared with practice,the current legal system also lags behind.For example,the current system of limitation of liability can not cover the application of tort litigation,while the original limitation of carrier’s liability is too low to adapt to the level of economic development and the development of cruise industry in China.Chapter IV summarizes the Enlightenment of foreign legal system to our country by analyzing the limitation system of compensation liability of foreign cruise companies.This paper combs the legislative experience of the United States,the European Union and the international conventions with important influence,and concludes that in perfecting the limitation of liability of cruise carriers in China,we should not completely copy the limitation standards of other countries,but should formulate the limitation of liability according to the national conditions,and clarify the important clauses such as the limitation of liability in the standard contract of cruise companies.At the same time,we should draw lessons from the advanced legislative experience in the field of dual liability limitation system abroad.The last chapter of the paper puts forward some suggestions to improve the system of limitation of liability of cruise companies in China,such as establishing special laws and regulations on cruise tourism,clarifying the ways of liability assuming and limitation of cruise companies,increasing the liability for tort compensation of cruise companies,and unifying the limitation of liability of cruise companies under different causes of action,so as to standardize the system of limitation of liability of cruise companies.