A study on ‘genuine link’ between ships and flag states under the International law of the sea

It has been a general principle that flag states exclusively exercise their jurisdiction and control over ships flying their flag to guarantee security and maintain public order on the High seas. However, As ‘flag of convenience’ that government of the vessel’s flag does not strictly exercise their function began to emerge, serious maritime problems, such as issues of maritime safety, negative effect on marine environment, have been raised. In order to solve those problems, an attempt to restrict each state’s right to grant its nationality to ships has been made. Finally, the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High seas and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provide that there must be a ‘genuine link’ between a ship and the state granting its nationality upon that ship. However, there is no shared definition about what a ‘genuine link' truly means and there are no guidelines about what could happen if a ‘genuine link' did not exist, which causes some dispute about the issues of interpreting or applying concept of ‘genuine link’ both between some scholars and between states. Recently, Duties and responsibilities of flag states are getting stronger to solve the problemspiracy, pollution of the marine environment, protection and conservation of the marine living sources, IUU(Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated) fishing. The thing to note is that ‘genuine link’ between ships and flag states is currently being reviewed in assigning strict responsibility to flag states. Despite indefinite meaning for ‘genuine link' between ships and flag states, ‘genuine link' is consistently mentioned as a fundamental component for maintenance of security and public order. Hence, a study on‘genuine link’ is needed at present. Thus, this study shows background of discussion and process of development about ‘genuine link’ between ships and flag states under the International Law of the Sea. Also, it will analyze claim of parties and judgement of international courts about ‘genuine link' for International Dispute on marine disputes and evaluate its concept and role. Thereby, It makes us look into the conditions for the grant of its nationality to ships under domestic law and relevant precedents as well. Hereafter, it examines the attitude of government about ‘genuine link' between ships and flag states and evaluates coincidence with international law of the sea. Through these processes, this study would be a help to identify current legal status about ‘genuine link’ and propose a effective direction for it. This article describes the issue of ‘genuine link’ as follow : The chapter Ⅰ explains the objectives and the scope of this study. The chapter Ⅱ deals with the meaning of the ‘genuine link’ between a ship and flag states in international Law of the Sea, which emerged to ensure a flag state’s obligation to ships on high seas. The chapter Ⅲ analyzes international courts’ judgements and the claims of the parties in international legal disputes whose issue of preliminary objection is on a ‘genuine link’ between a ship and flag states. The chapter Ⅳ examines the attitude of Korea’s domestic laws toward the ‘genuine link’ between a ship and flag states. Through it, their compliance and agreement with International law of the Sea are judged. Lastly, the chapter Ⅴ, as a conclusion, describes the result of this study and suggests the future interpretation way of ‘genuine link’ between ships and flag states.【 目 次 】 Abstract 제1장 서론 제1절 연구의 목적 제2절 연구의 범위와 방법 제2장 국제해양법상 선박과 기국간 ‘진정한 관련’에 대한 함의 분석 제1절 국제해양법상 기국의 의무 1. 기국의 의무에 대한 협약상 규정 2. 공해상 어업에 관한 기국의 의무 3. 기국의 의무와 선박과의‘진정한 관련’ 제2절 선박과 기국간 ‘진정한 관련’의 논의배경과 발전과정 1. ‘진정한 관련’ 개념의 등장 2. 선박과 기국간 ‘진정한 관련’의 논의배경 3. 선박과 기국간 ‘진정한 관련’의 발전과정 제3절 선박과 기국간 ‘진정한 관련’에 대한 국제기구의 노력 1. 어업분야에서의 ‘진정한 관련’ 2. IMO의 ‘진정한 관련’ 강화를 위한 노력 3. ILO의 협약이행에 있어서의 ‘진정한 관련’ 4. ‘진정한 관련’의 역할 규명을 위한 유엔의 노력 제4절 소결 제3장 선박과 기국간‘진정한 관련’에 대한 국제판례 분석 제1절 IMCO 해사안전위원회 구성에 관한 권고적 의견(IMCO사건) 1. 사실관계 2. 당사국의 주장 3. 재판소의 권고적 의견 제2절 Barcelona Traction 전력회사 사건 1. 사실관계 2. 재판소의 판결 제3절 M/V Saiga호 사건 1. 사실관계 2. Saiga호의 등록 및‘진정한 관련’에 대한 당사국의 주장 3. 재판소의 판결 제4절 Grand Prince호 사건 1. 사실관계 2. 당사국의 주장 3. 재판소의 판결 제5절 M/V Virginia G호 사건 1. 사실관계 2. ‘진정한 관련’에 대한 당사국의 주장 3. 재판소의 판결 제6절 소결 제4장 선박과 기국간 ‘진정한 관련’에 대한 국내법의 태도 제1절 선박국적부여제도 1. 선박법에 따른 선박국적부여 및 한국선박의 권리와 의무 2. 편의치적에 대한 대응방안으로서의 국제선박등록제도 제2절 국제사법상 선박관련사건시 ‘밀접한 관련’에 대한 태도 1. 선박관련사건에 관한 준거법 2. 선박관련사건 발생시 준거법 결정에 관한 국내판례의 태도 3. 국제사법상 ‘밀접한 관련’에 관한 논의의 국제해양법적 의미 제3절 소결 제5장 결론 【 參 考 文 獻