Status of the Competent State Authority as the Salvor of Human Life—A Perspective from the Perfection of Article 185 of the Chinese Maritime Code
There is a controversy over whether to recognize the status of the competent state authority as the salvor of human life under Article 185 of the Chinese Maritime Code.According to the textual interpretation of Article 185,there are two constitutive requirements for the qualification of the salvor of human life.One is that the relevant entity has performed an act of saving human life at sea,regardless of whether the act is based on fulfilling legal responsi-bilities,and the other is that the act of saving human life occurred in the salvage operation in the sense of the Chi-nese Maritime Code.Thus,under the textual interpretation of Article 185,the status of the entity as the salvor of human life has nothing to do with its identity,and therefore the competent state authority should be the qualified salvor of human life.On the contrary,current academic research holds a negative attitude towards the status of the competent state authority as the salvor of human life.The reason is that the salvage of human life at sea under Arti-cle 185 of the Chinese Maritime Code should be voluntary salvage activities,and the implementation of salvage of human life at sea by the competent state authorities is an act of fulfilling legal responsibilities.Because of the lack of voluntary elements in salvage activities,it should not be recognized as a qualified salvor of human life under Article 185.The interpretation of Article 185 is contradictory and undermines the certainty and authority of the Chinese Maritime Code.Therefore,the revision of the Chinese Maritime Code should be taken as an opportunity to clearly recognize the status of the competent state authority as the salvor of human life.The reasons for this proposed a-mendment are as follows.Firstly,the current judicial practice strongly endorses the status of the competent state au-thority as the salvor of human life.On the one hand,in the relevant jurisprudence,the court has clearly recognized that while the competent state authority is not entitled to a remuneration when saving human life in the performance of its duties,it is entitled,as a salvor of human life under Article 185,to receive a fair share of the payment awar-ded to the salvors for salving the ship or other property or for preventing or minimizing the pollution damage to the environment.On the other hand,in several cases,the court refused to recognize that the lack of voluntariness of salvage has the effect of denying the status of salvage operators.Secondly,the recognition of the status of the com-petent state authority as the salvor of human life helps to break through the current difficulties faced by salvage of human life at sea,promotes the effective implementation of the principle of priority in saving human life,and re-flects the greatest respect for the value of human life.Finally,there is no reasonable basis for denying the status of the competent state authority as the salvor of human life.This is not only because the negative position is contrary to the textual interpretation of Article 185 of the Chinese Maritime Code,but also because it undermines the basic spir-it of the principle of priority in saving human life.Moreover,denying the status of the competent state authority as the salvor of human life based on the lack of voluntariness in salvage of human life will inevitably lead to confusion and conflicts in the interpretation of relevant provisions of the Chinese Maritime Code.By specifying the status of the competent state authority as the salvor of human life in Article 185,increasing legal certainty,authority and effec-tiveness of the Chinese Maritime Code can reasonably be expected.
Chinese Maritime Codethe competent state authoritystatus as the salvor of human lifethe principle of priority in saving human life
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