Under the laws of what country is it falling?

[LaMissJude]

There is something about I'm a bit confused:

working in the Maldives, I'm wondering if someone wants to sue me or the dive center I'm working for or the dive center I own, under what law it falls?
Concrete example (not a true story, something I made up for the example): the sea is rough today, after we prepare everything and do the briefing, we leave the harbor. During the briefing, we say to the guests to avoid to walk to much on the boat, as the sea is rough today and they might fall and hurt themselves. One walks around during the boat trip, we tell him it is better for him to sit, but he continues. He finally falls and hurt himself (lets say he breaks an arm).

After coming back in his country (lets say he his German) he decides to sue the dive center.

Under what laws this is falling? Maldives? Germany? something else?

NB: the boats in the Maldives are usually traditional "dhoni", without quill, really round shaped on the bottom, usually with a wooden sun deck. They can handle quite lot, but they also roll a lot as soon as the sea is a bit rough.

It would be really nice if someone could explained this "under what laws it is" to me :blinking:
Thanks!

 

[Tigerman]

Sounds like;
1. Something you wouldnt get far with in Europe
2. Something that should be under the laws of the Maldives and not ones homecountry
But then again, Im no lawyer..

 

[WSOPFAN]

Ask yourself this.......How exactly does he establish jurisdiction in a court of law in Germany? Whatever laws are in effect in the country where any accident took place would usually apply unless you are there with a cruise ship and then it depends on their contract.

 

[Peter Guy]

It's been a LONG time since I studied "the law of conflicts" and I never studied Maritime Law so the following may be all wrong now. (Last caveat, I studied and practiced in the US and have NO knowledge of Maldivian (?) law and very little of German law (although I've been involved in a couple of lawsuits in Germany which dealt with conflicts issues.)

The questions that need to be answered are generally:

a. Do you (the defendant) have ANY contacts with any other jurisdiction? That is, do you advertise in Germany? Did you go to a trade fair in Germany and solicit clients? Do you or your dive center have any property outside of The Maldives?

b. What does your dive contract with the diver say? Is there a choice of laws clause? Would a German Court find that The Maldivian Law is "reasonable enough" for the German National to have gotten a fair shake?

There didn't use to be any "bright lines" and my guess is there still aren't.

Does this help?

 

[t-mac]

This sounds simple, but it is not at all. Your question first requires some understanding of laws of the Maldives and Germany, which I do not have. Ignoring that, from a US perspective, there are a number of issues:

1. What is the legal theory? Is this a matter of breach of contract or something else? If contract, then the contract probably says Maldive law governs (eg, was there a waiver signed?). Is it negligence or criminal a criminal act and if so does such a legal claim exist in either jurisdiction?
2. Assuming there is a legal theory, you need jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties. As for the former, courts are given power only to hear certain types of cases. In the US, civil courts do not hear criminal cases, for example, and vice versa. The latter is a balancing act that basically decides where it is most fair to bring the case. An important factor is where the harm was done (here, maybe it is the Maldives -- see below). Another is whether it is fair to drag someone into a foreign court. As Peter Guy says, factors like the shop advertising in German makes a difference, but on the other hand, the fact that the German sought out services in the Maldives weigh the other way. There is really no way to fully analyze this without "all" the facts.
3. Finally, there is a maritime overlay here. Depending on where this happened, it could have been in international waters (countries lay claim to certain amount of their coastal waters as domestic and beyond that it is international) and then you get into yet another area of law that very few people understand. It developed in an era when boat commerce ruled and it is based on some very practical things that we today may see as unfair or unjust.
4. Even if you can determine what law might apply, that does not determine what court hears the case. It is not unprecedented for the courts of one country to hear a case, yet the law of another country applies. It is unusual and obviously not optimal, but it can happen.

I know you were looking for a simple answer, but there isn't one and even to the extent you may think I have helped, you can disregard all of it because US principles almost assuredly do not apply here. How's that for useless?!

 

[LaMissJude]

Yep, definitely less easier than I tought ^^ thank you anyway.