The juridical nature of maritime agents.

Abstract

Maritime or Marine Law is the law relating to harbours, ships and seamen; it relates also to sea-adventures and to various contracts, arising therefrom. Maritime Law constitutes an important branch of the commercial law of maritime nations (1); it is divided into a variety: of departments, such as those about harbours, property of ship's, duties and rights of masters and seamen, contracts of affreightment, average salvage, etc (2). It is therefore the aim of this thesis to demonstrate how the institute of maritime agency can offer its services in the fulfilment of these· various activities: inherent in Maritime Law. The law of agency deals with the relationships that arise when one person is used by another to perform certain tasks on his behalf. The employment of someone in this way creates problems of many kinds in respect of the rights and duties of the various interested parties, resulting from the introduction of a third party between the one who wishes to perform some undertaking and the one in respect of whom the undertaking is performed is intended to be performed. Instead of there being two persons directly connected in law with each other by the unilateral act of one oil: the mutual acts of both, the employment of an agent introduces another person, whose conduct can affect in a variety of ways the legal position of the one on whose behalf he acts and the one with whom he deals. Clearly the complications produced by the introduction of a third person neccesitate some special rules of law to regulate them. These rules of law are the subject matter of this thesis.