신 국제사법하의 선박가압류 및 본안에 대한 국제재판관할에 대한 소고

A claimant against a shipowner or carrier attempts to secure means of recovery by arresting a ship owned by the debtor. However, even if an arrest application is accepted and an arrest order is issued by a Korean court for a ship berthed in a Korean port, merits of the claim itself shall be acknowledged in a lawsuit for successful recovery. The question of whether the arresting court has jurisdiction over the merits of the claim, known as forum arresti, is determined by the legislative practices of each country. Generally, common law jurisdictions recognize forum arresti, while civil law jurisdictions consider the arrest and the merits to have separate purposes and nature, thus not necessarily aligned. In Korea, the recent amendments in the Act on Private International Law (which regulates conflicts of laws) of 2022 have partially addressed this issue. It is evaluated that the partial acceptance of international conventions on ship arrest played a role in this regard. If the arrest is subsequently canceled due to the non-recognition of the claim in the subsequent lawsuit, issues of wrongful arrest may arise. This may involve discussions on parallel proceedings in international litigation and form non-convenience. The amended Act on Private International Law introduces criteria for resolving parallel proceedings in international litigation and also partially introduces forum non-convenience.