Establishment

Haikou Maritime Court was established as a specialized court in March 1990 in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Establishment of Maritime Courts in Coastal Port Cities and the Decision of the Supreme People’s Court on the Establishment of Haikou and Xiamen Maritime Courts. The Court now comprises 10 divisions and departments, including Case Filing Division, Maritime and Admiralty Division, Maritime Criminal Division, Maritime Administrative Division, Enforcement Bureau, Research Office, General Office, Personnel Department, Judicial Police Division, Discipline and Supervision Department. There are 5 detached tribunals of the Court, including Sanya Tribunal, Yangpu Tribunal, Boao Tribunal, Basuo Tribunal and Sansha Tribunal. The High People's Court of Hainan Province has jurisdiction over appeals against the judgments and orders of Haikou Maritime Court. Qiu Jun is the Secretary of the Leading Party Member’s Group and the President of Haikou Maritime Court at present.

Jurisdiction

Haikou Maritime Court is the southernmost maritime court in China. It also has the largest jurisdiction area and covers more than 2 million square kilometers. Its jurisdiction area covers the ports and navigable waters of Hainan Province, including the islands and neighboring waters of Xisha Qundao, Zhongsha Qundao, Nansha Qundao, and Huangyan Dao. According to Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Scope of Cases to Be Accepted by Maritime Courts, 108 types of cases under 6 categories are specially handled by maritime courts. To be specific, the scope includes cases concerning disputes over maritime tort and maritime contracts, disputes over the development and environment protection of ocean and navigable waters, other maritime disputes, maritime administration, and special maritime procedure. The Court has been designated to handle two maritime crimes including traffic offenses at sea and crimes of undermining protection of marine eco-environment and resources, as well as disputes over international multimodal transport contracts and international air freight contracts, which are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Hainan province. By now, the Court has exercised maritime trial on civil, administrative and criminal cases that involve disputes at sea, on land and in the air.