Cross-Border Maritime Disputes and the Georgian Code
A maritime dispute almost always carries a foreign element: the ship flies another state's flag, the cargo originates from another country, the incident occurs on the high seas, and the parties are residents of different states. That is why the first question to be settled in such a dispute is which country's legislation applies. The Maritime Code of Georgia answers this directly, with connecting-factor rules for individual relationships — Articles 19, 20, 23, 298 and 321 of the Code govern general average, collisions of ships, salvage and damage caused by pollution of the sea. Here the Georgian Code carries the national expression of the international maritime order: its rules regulate the same situations that international maritime practice knows, and it is precisely these norms that apply in a Georgian court or at the enforcement stage.
General Average — Which Country's Law Applies
As a general rule, the relationship connected with general average is governed by the legislation of the country whose port the ship entered after the event that caused the general average — unless the parties have provided otherwise. The parties' agreement thus precedes the automatic attachment of law, and this too is a maritime expression of contractual freedom. A special rule exists for the Georgian connection: where the parties whose interests were affected by the general average are residents of Georgia, Georgian legislation applies — again on condition that the parties have not provided otherwise. The material liability for general average is apportioned according to the procedure established by the corresponding articles of the Code — meaning that the distribution of loss among the participants follows a concrete statutory mechanism rather than the court's discretion.
Collisions: Territorial Waters, the High Seas and the Same-Flag Rule
Compensation for damage caused by collisions of ships in territorial and internal waters is governed by the legislation of the state on whose territory the collision occurred — the lex loci rule dominates here. For collisions on the high seas the Code offers a different solution: where the collision occurred on the high seas and the dispute connected with it is examined in Georgia, the rules set out in the Code apply — the forum country thus applies its own substantive law. A third variant concerns ships under one flag: where the colliding ships sail under the flag of one and the same country and the collision does not affect the interests of a third party, the law of the flag state applies regardless of where the collision occurred. Together these three rules form a complete grid: first the place is determined, then the forum, then the flag — and each of them governs its own sphere.