The article provides analysis of current regulation on arrest of vessel and closely related issues of executionof judgments against vessel. The Author discusses Polish Code of Civil Procedure 1964, International Convention Relating to Arrest of Sea-Going Ships (the Brussels Convention 1952), to which Poland is party, and International Convention on the Arrest ofShips (the Geneva Convention 1999), not yet in force.

The Author criticizes Polish judicial authorities’ conduct regarding arrest of vessel and calls for incorporation of its regulation into the Polish maritime Code. His 9-point proposal is far-reaching and may prove valuable for future legislation.

This article discusses two very controversial issues in shipping practices, namely, demurrage and detention. The author analyzes the question of whether the regulations in the maritime law regarding demurrage and detention can be applied to containers, which are neither vessels nor even integral parts of them. It is impossible to accept that the fee collected by maritime shippers for the detention of containers by the recipients for a period exceeding that which is the reasonable time of landing could be of a lease fee character. On the contrary, the name, the character of the service, the aim in which the shippers reserve their right to it, as well as the means of its calculation and collection indicate that, in generał, it is compensation or a mutually agreed penalty.

The article is an attempt to present circumstances that nowadays determine negotiating, conclusion and performance of a multimodal transport contract in Poland. Author focuses in particular on parties’ approach, their business and legal conscience in this respect, as well as their decisions’ practical consequences. Doctrinal aspects of a multimodal transport contract are taken into account only as long as it is essential in examining the most common practices of the parties to the contract. Due to particular character of this publication, the method of author’s views presentation is as brief as possible.

The article is an attempt of providing basic information on the Polish Register of Ships – (rejestr okrętowy), its legal principles, construction and mode of operation. The text is by no means a comprehensive legal analysis of this institution – such a study would have necessitated much more time and effort, but it is rather a synthetic guidance on how the register is designed, how it works, or at least how it should have worked and what sort of purposes it primarily serves. The publication reflects a present status of legislation in Poland, i.e. the respective regulations of the Polish Maritime Code enacted in 2001. It should be noted that a draft of a new Polish Maritime Code has recently been prepared, that designs the Polish Register of Ships in a slightly different, more flexible and up-to-date, mode. However, at the moment, we are not able to predict when the new regulations might be enacted and become applicable. Polish maritime hypothecation and mortgage are subject to a separate study that shall be presented in the near future.

This article deals with the new convention on the arrest of ships which was approved on 12 March 1999 during the Diplomatic Conference in Geneva held under the auspices of UNCTAD, IMO and CMI. The new convention supplements and more specifically defines the 1952 convention on the arrest of ships. The aim of this article is to describe the new solutions which were introduced four years ago and to compare them with the convention of 1952. The convention on the arrest of vessels oj 1999 is not entirely new. It will enter into force following its ratification by ten States.