Container handling along the River Scheldt in Antwerp, Europe’s second sea port

Antwerp is Europe’s largest port for conventional cargo handling

Public and private inland navigation law is a specific branch of transport law

Seaport Law

has specialised in the study and practice of international, European, Belgian, Flemish and local public and private seaport law since 1988. In 1994, Eric Van Hooydonk became the first and only Belgian jurist to obtain a doctorate with a dissertation on Belgian port management law. He has since published articles on seaport law in authoritative Belgian and foreign journals. He is also involved as a legal advisor in most policy developments in this area.

This page provides access to selected legal instruments. In the case of some documents, direct links are provided to freely accessible databases, such as those of the European institutions and the Council of State. For sources in Dutch, see Havenrecht.

Selected Sources of Law

International sources

• Convention on the International Régime of Maritime Ports, and Protocol of Signature (Geneva, 9 December 1923)
• International Maritime Organization, Guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance (Assembly Resolution A.949(23) adopted on 5 December 2003
• CMI Draft Instrument on Places of Refuge, adopted by the 38th CMI Conference in Athens, 17 October 2008

European sources

• ECJ, Merci, judgment of 10 December 1991, case C-179/90
• ECJ, GT-Link, judgment of 17 July 1997, case C-242/95
• European Commission, Rødby, decision 94/19/EC of 21 December 1993
• European Commission, decision on state aid case N 438/2002 - Belgium - subsidies of port auhorities for the performance of public tasks (letter of 16 October 2002, C(2002)3763fin) (in French)
• European Commission, decision on state aid case N 520/2003 - Belgium - financial aid for infrastructure works in Flemish ports (letter of 20 October 2004, C(2004)3933fin) (in French)
• European Commission, proposal for a Directive of the European Parlement and of the Council on market access to port services, COM/2004/0654 def.

Belgian, Flemish and local sources

• Article 538 of the Belgian Civil Code (in French)
• Act of 5 May 1936 on the Régime of Harbour Masters (in French)
• Flemish Decree of 2 March 1999 on seaport policy and management (in French)
• Council of State, Seaport Terminals, judgment no. 48.082 of 21 June 1994 (in Dutch)

Other

For legal doctrine including downloads, see Publications

For recent news articles, see News

For links to sites relating to seaport law and policy in general, see Links