Research On Criminal Liability Of Seafarers In Water-on Accidents

At present,with the development of the shipping industry,major accidents in the water transportation have attracted attention.Such accidents in addition to involving civil liability of the seafarers and ship owners,ship operators,and ship managers,they may also involve criminal liability of the seafarers involved.In China's current criminal legal system,there is no special provision for the criminal liability of seafarers.In judicial practice,the seafarers are convicted with traffic accident crime and so on according to the current criminal law.Considering that the provisions of the current legal system can cause a lot of confusion in the process of judicial application,the article mainly analyzes the criminal liability of seafarers in water-on traffic accidents,marine pollution accidents,and major injuries,deaths,and/or property losses caused by the master's failure to perform his legal obligations.In order to protect the special occupation group of seafarers and improving the legal system of the seafarers in China,this article puts forward theoretical suggestions on the special legislation of seafarers'criminal liability.The article content is divided into four parts.The first part is an overview of the criminal liability of seafarers in water-on accidents.This part defines the concept and scope of the seafarers,the types of crimes involved in the duties of the seafarers in water-on accidents,and the scope of the water area discussed in this article.The second part and the third part are the research on the particularity of the constitution of the crime in the crimes involved in the duties of seafarers in water-on accidents.Specifically,based on the analysis of international conventions,foreign legislation and relevant legislative provisions in China,they analyze whether the constitution of the crime is special from the subject,subjective,object and objective aspects of the crime,and propose legislative suggestions for the conviction standards of the seafarers involved.The fourth part discusses the issue that the seafarers' criminal responsibility should be given special legislation from the aspects of the necessity,feasibility and legislative proposals of special legislation.Emphasis is put on legislative proposals for the special criminal legislation of seafarers.This article focuses on the selection of legislative models for seafarers' criminal liability in water-on accidents and related legal issues,and puts forward corresponding legislative suggestions.Based on the analysis of the necessity and feasibility of the seafarer's special criminal legislation,the legislative model of the independent and decentralized subsidiary criminal law is selected to stipulate the seafarer's criminal liability in the revised "Maritime Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China"and the "Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China",And clarifies the criminal liability of the seafarers involved in different water-on accidents in the legislative proposal.The social value of criminal law lies not only in punishing existing crimes,but more importantly,it plays a certain role in preventing and alerting to future crimes.Clarifying the criminal legal liability of the crimes involved in the duties of seafarers in water accidents will help to clarify the legal basis for conviction and sentencing of seafarers involved in such crimes.At the same time,it can also urge the seafarers to perform their duties with due diligence,prudently perform their duties,and enhance their awareness of safety and responsibility.Besides,it can also reduce human factors in water accidents to meet the needs of protecting the development of the shipping industry and the legal rights of seafarers.