With the continuous promotion of the strategy of building a maritime power, the market for maritime legal services is becoming wider, and the market demand for emerging maritime legal service fields and maritime cross legal services is significantly increasing
With the continuous promotion of the construction of a maritime power by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and local governments, the "marine economy" has become an important growth point in China's economic development. The market demand for emerging maritime legal services and cross maritime legal services is significantly increasing. While traditional maritime legal services in most regions of China are shrinking, maritime lawyers should focus on a wider range of maritime legal services in order to achieve further development.
Marine related business not only refers to businesses related to the ocean, but also covers areas such as coastal zone and island development. Common marine related businesses include marine transportation, marine engineering, marine science, marine resources and environment, marine fisheries, etc. From the concept of maritime business, it can be seen that the scope of maritime legal services is very broad. If we look at the broad system of maritime law, in addition to the traditional "dry" and "wet" types of maritime legal services, it actually includes many cross maritime legal service areas, specifically including but not limited to:
1. Legal services related to maritime finance. For example, in addition to the relevant legal services in the financing, mortgage, disposal and other links of ships, marine equipment, marine engineering, etc. implemented through traditional bank loans or financing leases, as well as the aforementioned legal services implemented through emerging financing methods such as bond issuance and private equity;
2. Legal services for ship and marine equipment manufacturing. For example, relevant legal services in the design, construction, and trading of ships and marine equipment;
3. Legal services related to maritime non litigation. This field of business overlaps partially with maritime financial legal services, ship and marine equipment manufacturing legal services, and may also include legal services for equity mergers and acquisitions of maritime enterprises, transaction mergers and acquisitions of maritime business projects, and restructuring;
4. Legal services for marine engineering. For example, relevant legal services in the design, construction, and other stages of major ocean engineering;
5. Maritime administration and criminal legal services. In the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Scope of Acceptance of Cases by Maritime Courts" implemented in March 2016, maritime administrative cases have been officially determined to be under the special jurisdiction of maritime courts. Maritime criminal cases have long been excluded from the jurisdiction of maritime courts. In 2017, the Supreme People's Court designated Ningbo Maritime Court as a pilot court to handle maritime criminal cases, and subsequently designated Haikou Maritime Court as a pilot court to handle maritime criminal cases. In the long run, the "three in one" reform of maritime civil, administrative, and criminal case trials is an inevitable trend in the development of maritime trials, so administrative litigation and criminal litigation will also be included in the scope of maritime legal services;
6. Customs legal services. In recent years, the development of customs legal services has been rapid, often involving criminal or administrative laws. Providing such services also requires lawyers to have certain professional knowledge in import and export, customs practice, and taxation.