CONTRACTS OF CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA AND THE NEED FOR UNIFICATION OF MARITIME LAW (A COMPARATIVE REVIEW OF LEGAL REGULATIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, MONTENEGRO, THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA)

Abstract

Maritime law is a global economic branch which is dynamic and diverse in its features. Considering that fact, the main purpose of maritime law is unification, i.e. equalisation. Unification will allow for equal legal framework and treatment in all legal systems and in all branches in which transportation takes place. The institutes which contribute to that are the international conferences and conventions in the theme field of the law of the sea. Numerous international organisations contribute to the harmonization of the maritime law but the most important ones are the International Maritime Organisation and the United Nations. International conventions dealing with maritime law and its unification are: Brussels Conventions for Unification of the Maritime Law - ship collisions, the Hague Rules, Athens Convention on Transportation of Passengers and Luggage on the Sea, the UN Convention on the Transportation of Goods on the Sea - Hamburg Rules, Visby Rules, SOLAS and the Convention on Multimodal Transportation of Goods. In this paper a comparative review will be offered about legal arrangements in the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. Most of these countries are signatories of the said conventions and for that reason they have a fundamental obligation and goal to respect their directives and harmonize their laws. Each of the specified countries has a clearly different role in the maritime law and each of them is differently oriented regarding maritime law. That is why some of them had put their focus on ship affairs: some are exclusively oriented towards transportation or trade, while some serve mainly for transit and loading/discharging on their territory. Because of these differences, it is important to point out how and to what extent each of these neighbouring countries have arranged their legislations regulating contracts on transportation of goods by sea and how each of these countries has contributed to the uniformity of the maritime law.