The Arrest of Ships in Private International Law

Analysing the arrest of ships in English and Scots law in the light of the international conventions in the field this book examines the protective, security, and jurisdictional functions of arrest within the three classical domains of private international law: applicable law, jurisdiction, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

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By providing a private international law analysis of a field in which international conventions coexist with national law and regional law, this book offers different theoretical and methodological insights into the conflict of laws and the conflict of jurisdictions, aiming ultimately at the juridical continuity of legal relations across national borders.

Central to the book is the jurisdictional function of arrest of ships. Forum arresti--the paradigmatic forum selection criterion in English and Scots law--has survived so far as a specific jurisdictional basis for maritime claims in the process of Europeanization of private international law. One of the main purposes of this book is to provide a theoretical framework within which forum arresti in the case of the arrest of ships gains legitimacy. It proposes a positive approach to jurisdictional issues through the lenses of international judicial co-operation and provides a theoretical justification for the triumph of forum arresti in the international maritime context where traditionally this has been justified by historical and practical reasons.

Considering the the topic in the context of the Europeanization of private international law and the Brussels I Regulation, this book includes valuable insight into theories of characterisation as applied to uniform provisions such as the International Arrest Conventions, and challenges the indistinctive characterisation of the arrest of ships as an inherent part of the action in rem in English law.

This is a scholarly analysis offering an expert perspective on the arrest of ships in the international commercial sphere to draw conclusions on the advancement of further harmonisation in this field. Through its focus on English and Scots law in the light of international conventions, this book provides a framework which will give practical answers to the many complex private international law issues that arise in relation to the arrest of ships.