China News Service, September 28. According to the Supreme Law website, the Supreme People's Court announced on the 27th the "Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Crew Dispute Cases" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").
There are 21 articles in the "Regulations", which will be implemented on September 29, 2020.
It is clarified that the labor dispute between the crew and the ship owner does not involve the crew embarking, working on the ship, disembarking and repatriating. If the parties directly file a lawsuit with the maritime court, the maritime court informs the parties in accordance with the "Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China" 》.
Among them, in the case of a labor contract dispute between the crew and the shipowner, the maritime court shall accept the litigation in the maritime court where the plaintiff’s domicile, the place where the contract is signed, the port of embarkation or departure of the crew, or the domicile of the defendant.
The “Regulations” pointed out that labor disputes unrelated to crew boarding, working on the ship, or disembarking repatriation shall be submitted to the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee for arbitration. The arbitration tribunal shall, based on the crew’s application, deal with the crew’s wages and other labor compensation, work injury medical expenses, economic compensation or If the award of compensation is executed first, it shall be transferred to the local people's court for review.
Where a crew member applies for arrest of a ship, the arbitration tribunal shall submit the application for arrest of the ship to the maritime court where the registry port is located or where the ship is located for review, or to the maritime court where the registry port is located or where the ship is entrusted by the local people’s court for review.
The "Regulations" clarify that the following wages and other labor remunerations due to boarding, working on the ship, and repatriation from the ship should be supported if the crew claims the priority of the ship: (1) Remuneration for normal working hours or basic wages; 2) Overtime wages for extended working hours, rest days and statutory holidays; (3) Bonuses, related allowances and subsidies during ship service, and wages paid under special circumstances; (4) Failure to pay the above payments on schedule The fruits produced.
In addition, the crew members’ wages, other labor remuneration, crew repatriation costs, and social insurance costs due to boarding, working on the ship, and repatriation from the ship are not paid in accordance with the contract by the ship owner. The third party advances all or part of the costs to the crew. If the corresponding maritime claims are transferred to a third party, and the third party requests confirmation or exercise of maritime liens with respect to the assigned maritime claims, it shall be supported.
The “Regulations” pointed out that the crew members were abandoned during overseas work or encountered other emergencies, and the shipowner or its financial guarantor, or crew dispatch agency did not bear corresponding responsibilities. The crew requested the financial guarantor and crew dispatch agency to provide financial guarantees. Expenses and seafarers’ reserve funds for emergency assistance shall be supported if they first pay relevant expenses for emergency rescue.
The "Regulations" clarify that these regulations apply to cases that have not yet been finalized after the implementation of these regulations; these regulations are not applicable to cases that have been finalized before the implementation of these regulations, and the parties have applied for retrial or decided to retry in accordance with the trial supervision procedures. If the regulations previously issued by this court are inconsistent with these regulations, these regulations shall prevail.