Research On The Scope Of General Average

Although some scholars and relevant groups have continuously proposed to abolish the system since the 1978 Hamburg Rules,general average system still plays an indispensable role in shipping practice and has been unanimously recognized and adopted by the laws of various shipping countries.The general average system stipulated in Chapter 10 of China’s Maritime Law is mainly formulated with reference to the 1974 York-Antwerp Rules and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Provisional Rules for General Average Adjustment——the 1975 Beijing Adjustment Rules.The provisions are too simple and not clear enough,and the York-Antwerp Rules have been amended for many times,and there are many points that need to be regulated and improved in China’s general average system.Among them,there are many institutional,theoretical and practical problems about the unclear and imperfect provisions of the scope of the general average,and what kind of situation should be recognized as general average in the historical development,etc.The first part is an introduction to the basic meaning of the scope of general average.Firstly,it is needed to clarify the concept of ‘general average’ and explain the general average system.After the clarification of the concept of general average,the development of the scope of general average is summarized,and the problems of the scope of general average in theory and practice are presented,including the problems in practice cases,the problems in the provisions of the Maritime Law,and the changes and adjustments to the provisions of the Beijing Adjustment Rules as well as the revised draft of the Beijing Adjustment Rules in 2021.The second part analyzes the specific issues of salvage costs of the general average,including the controversy,as well as the amendments made to them by the Beijing Adjustment Rules and the evaluation and analysis of the amendments made by the Beijing Adjustment Rules.The third part deals with the specific issue of port of refuge costs in the general average,including how to subdivide them and the controversy of their inclusion in the general average,as well as the evaluation and analysis of the amendments made by the Beijing Rules and the amendments made by the Beijing Rules.The fourth part is an analysis of the specific issues of environmental damage related costs in the common maritime loss,combining theoretical and practical issues,the amendments made by the Beijing Adjustment Rules,and the evaluation and analysis of the amendments made by the Beijing Adjustment Rules.Finally,the significance of the revision of the Beijing Adjustment Rules on the scope of general average and the characteristics of the Beijing Adjustment Rules are studied,and the future development and improvement of the Maritime Law is anticipated through the analysis of the revised provisions of the Beijing Adjustment Rules,with a view to providing some academic reference for the determination of the scope of general average in China’s maritime law and the legal basis for the practical operation.