The dissertation is the first study in Ukrainian legal science, which formulates a holistic concept of administrative and legal support of maritime safety in Ukraine, which is based on the use of administrative means to implement generally accepted international norms and standards.
In the dissertation for the first time: the historical and legal basis of the formation of modern approaches to understanding of a category “maritime safety” and organizational and legal mechanisms of its provision is defined; the peculiarities of the application of the norms of national administrative law in the implementation of international obligations and standards for ensuring the maritime safety are described; on the basis of theoretical developments, legislation and international agreements the leading role of the principle of safety for the legal regulation of shipping is determined; the approaches to understanding the role and importance of an integrated approach to maritime safety are updated; the state of legal provision of maritime safety in Ukraine is characterized, defects of normative-legal maintenance of this activity are revealed. Also for the first time: the possibilities of application of the current international legal norms and norms of the national legislation of Ukraine in the field of ensuring maritime safety to autonomous vessels are defined, characterized and supplemented; the regularities and main directions of formation of the modern model of administrative and legal provision of maritime safety in Ukraine are formulated; the institutionalization of the maritime safety management system in Ukraine is characterized and it is noted that changes in the institutional mechanism for maritime safety in Ukraine have been very dynamic, with efforts to build a single, integrated management system for this important aspect of navigation, without which it is impossible to effectively use maritime transport corridors income from sea freight and passengers; forms and methods of public administration of maritime safety in Ukraine are classified and disclosed.
It is proved that the administrative and legal component of the provision maritime safety consists in the direct participation of the state (its bodies, officials and authorized organizations) in all processes during which maritime safety is ensured.
It is noted that ensuring the provision maritime safety is impossible without proper legal regulation, active participation of the state and its authorized bodies, the exercise of their powers. The legislation and public administration are prominent factors in the system of state and supranational mechanism for ensuring maritime safety. They are based on the norms of international agreements and must comply with them, because shipping is by nature a predominantly international type of human activity, covers most countries of the world and is carried out on a strong, centuries-old international legal basis.
The role and importance of the human factor and the importance of an integrated approach to the provision of maritime safety through the formation of a global administrative mechanism for controlling such security by port states, flag states and coastal states are noted. The complexity of the approach to ensuring the maritime safety provides its global and domestic multi-vector administration in the areas of design, equipment and seaworthiness of ships; staffing, working conditions and training of ship’s crews, taking into account applicable international documents, use of signals, maintaining communication and preventing collisions.
The following ways to improve the administrative and legal mechanism of the provision of the maritime safety are proposed: a clear division of powers between all public (state) subjects in the system of maritime safety in Ukraine; formation at the local level (in the seaports of Ukraine) of workable and effective structures for ensuring the maritime safety in the absence of uncharacteristic for maritime activities of the leading maritime states mechanisms and duplication of powers; working out of the coordinated mechanisms of the state policy in the field of provision of maritime safety; creation of permanent advisory bodies with the participation of relevant civil society institutions; effective control activities; providing the necessary funding; conceptual modernization and improvement of strategic planning of measures aimed at updating the administrative and legal mechanism for the provision of maritime safety in Ukraine, in particular the definition of priorities for the short term in clearly defined areas and deadlines, as well as ensuring the leading role of the Maritime Administration in this.
