Transcript A balance of Business and Human Relations and the contract

Economic benefit
Vs
Social responsibility for the
crew
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Globalisation
Confrontational Labour Conditions
Flag of Convenience – Absence of the
“Genuine Link” Requirement
Registration
“Genuine Link” requirement
Pluralism – Stakeholder Theory
Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) –
International Sales of Goods (CISG)
Business and Human Relations
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Dates back in the 1990s.
An agent towards economic enhancement,
which empowers the industry to function.
Hence assisting financial integration within
the international market.
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The success of the industry relies on the work
done by the seafarers
The ones responsible for the industry to work
free from any deficiencies, rather than the
shareholders (i.e. ship owners) acts.
FOC is has no clear definition:
 Boczek: a Flag of Convenience (FOC) as “flag
of any country allowing the registration of
foreign owned and foreign controlled vessels
under conditions which are convenient and
opportune for the persons who are
registering the vessels”.
 International Transport Workers’ Federation:
as “where beneficial ownership and control of
a vessel is found to lie elsewhere than in the
country of the flag the vessel is flying”.
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Either: “genuine connection” (TMC; traditional
maritime countries)
Or: “open registry” (FOC)
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Ship owners need to consider both economic
benefits in choosing a flag state to register
their ships but also they should consider the
advantages to society, namely to their
employees.
The countries which operate as open
registries, levy minimum or no taxes “on
profits arising from the operation of vessels
under their flags.”
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ILO - Geneva 1956
The Report of an Intergovernmental Working
Group/UNCTAD: “genuine link”
But: 1958 Geneva Convention on the High
Seas - Article 5: flexibility for state
implementation
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Universal acceptance :1982, Art.91 of the UN
Convention of the Law of the Sea
Not yet been ratified
needs 40 signatories – up until today only 14
countries have signed it
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Enlightened shareholder value: a compromise
between shareholder value and pluralist
approach; it represents the consensus of the two,
placing emphasis on both the shareholder’s
maximisation of profit but also the stakeholder’s
interests.
Pluralism places emphasis on the shareholder,
and stresses the fact that directors should only
act for the shareholder’s maximization of profit.
Stakeholder theory: argues that the company is
an entity where stakeholders play a huge role in
the running of it.
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The concept of a uniform EU contract law system,
was created in the EU domestic trade and it is
designed to produce uniformity and flexibility,
thus accommodating the development in legal
thinking in the field of contract law, within the
EU.
The PECL, is globally recognised as a unified
system of EU contract law, which takes into
consideration the European domestic trade. It
has been defined as a “set of general rules which
are designed to provide maximum flexibility and
thus accommodate future development in legal
thinking in the field of contract law.”
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Social responsibility in the industry has
sometimes been held to be an essential
requirement, in order for the industry to
maintain good reputational picture by
preserving business ethics and human
relations.
This emanates from the fact that world trade
and transport of goods relies on the maritime
sector thereby prosperity of the sector is
critical in providing efficiency in the economic
sense and social advancement.
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Any questions?
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THANK YOU