Maritime Arbitration Commission MAK

a permanent public arbitration organization in the USSR, founded in 1930 under the All-Union Chamber of Commerce. The commission consists of 25 members appointed for a one-year term by the presidium of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Members are drawn from among representatives of mari-time, commercial, or insurance organizations and from among other experts in merchant shipping, maritime law, and marine insurance. The commission’s legal status has been defined by decrees of the Central Executive Committee and Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR of Dec. 13, 1930, Jan. 8, 1933, and May 7, 1936, and by the Mar. 9, 1960, decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The procedural rules are ratified by the presidium of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The commission hears disputes concerning compensation for assistance to ships, ship collisions or harbor damage, the chartering and maintenance of vessels, shipping of cargoes, towing of vessels and rafts, and marine insurance. The commission also considers, by way of arbitration, the disputes enumerated above when they arise from ocean and river vessels sailing on international rivers.

The commission does not have mandatory jurisdiction. Cases within its competence are accepted only if the disputing parties agree to turn the dispute over to the commission for resolution. Judgments are binding, but they may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the USSR if there has been a violation of legal rules in rendering the decision. The Supreme Court of the USSR has the right to vacate the decision and return the case to the commission for arbitration de novo.

The commission hears disputes between Soviet organizations, between Soviet organizations and foreign organizations and companies, and between foreign companies at the request of the parties to the dispute.