Responsibility and Accountability in Maritime Law: Criminalisation of the Ship’s Master

The criminalisation of seafarers has been observed as a growing phenomenon for more than forty years, presenting a picture of increasing liability upon the Master even though their responsibilities remain essentially unchanged in generations of maritime law. Because of the demand by society to find someone to blame for environmental and human loss, there is a constant flow of cases, which serve to confirm the phenomenon but offer no solutions to defend the innocent. The structure of the maritime environment in which they work has changed dramatically, as evidenced by the complex evolution of fleet ownership and management, leaving the Master with diminished management influence. This book has been written in a format which meets the needs of lawyers, academics and maritime professionals, with the aim to analyse the character of criminalisation to determine the features which characterise the phenomenon in Port and Flag State contexts; it interrogates the aim to define the nature of criminalisation, identifies the constituent problems in such criminal accountability.

Each chapter relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how the laws which reflect national policy underpinning those priorities are applied in practice. This structure enables an understanding the problems in the criminal process, with a view to offering options for solutions. The book is directly relevant to a broad range of parties that includes lawyers, academics, P & I clubs, seafarers, shipowners, managers and agents, and national and international seafaring unions.