Current Issues in Maritime and Transport Law

The various special features of the field of Transport Law and its innate predisposition to multidisciplinary aspects require scholars, along with an ongoing commitment to study the traditional subjects of the sector and to keep an open mind, especially from an international perspective, to enrich the debate and expand the frontiers of research. To this end, a comparative analysis, which, far from being limited to national borders, focuses on national, supranational, European and non-European legal systems, should be carried out, in order to inspire a deeper understanding of the theoretical and practical issues of Maritime Law. At the same time, the need to assess and contextualize each new theoretical proposition with a reality in progressive evolution, which requires a continuous renewal of matter, is of paramount importance. The focus, therefore, should be placed not only on analysis of the practices of subjects operating in the sector, but also especially on the interpretational work of the Courts. The papers collected in this volume are the results of research conducted by a close-knit group of Italian and foreign scholars, whose primary objective was to contribute to and stimulate debate on some of the more interesting and recent issues affecting the subject, even offering new perspectives and laying the foundation for future enhancements to Maritime Law. The volume updates the reader on many of the issues affecting the various fields of Transport Law, such as, amongst others, those concerning transport documents under seaborne cargo regimes, liability for oil pollution damage, classification societies, labour rights of seafarers, maritime cabotage, customs-related operations for seagoing vessels, marinas, State aids, liability of airport management companies and of entities which provide ground-handling services, and successive carriers in the road transport of goods. The result is a practical and updated tool, with the aim of offering scholars and business operators the opportunity to renew their knowledge on some of the profiles and most important critical issues of Transport Law and to guide the reader on the new prospects opened up by national and international debate.