ABSTRACT

This chapter is dedicated to a presentation of French legal rules in the field of maritime safety, considered as the set of safety rules concerning ships and maritime navigation. These rules are part of a legal corpus made of international conventions, EU texts and provisions of the French Transport code. They are enforced by an administrative body belonging to the French Department of Transport. The presentation of substantive rules follows a distinction between prevention and compensation rules. Prevention relies on technical regulations, ships control and places of refuge for ships in distress. Compensation is based on rules concerning civil and criminal liability, but also administrative sanctions.