海事公约对第三国产生效力之原理

“条约不约束第三国”是一项古老的国际习惯法规则，亦称为“条约的相对效力原则”。即条约只约束缔约国，未经第三国同意，条约既不能为第三国创设权利，也不能为第三国施加义务。这一原则早就得到众多国际法学者的肯定，并被国际司法实践所接受和确认。国际海事公约在明确这一原则的同时，规定了“不优惠条款”，

Discussion on the principle concerning the effect of maritime instruments on the third party

It is an ancient rule of Customary International Law that "A Treaty Shall Have No Validity to the Third State",also known as "the principle of relative validity of treaty".That means a treaty shall only be bounding with its contracting states,and it does not create either obligations or rights for the third State without its consent.This principle has long been acknowledged by many international law scholars and accepted and confirmed by international judicial practice.The international maritime instruments have confirmed this principle and,at the same time,stipulate the clause of "No More Favorable Treatment(NMFT)",which is still effective to ships of the third state.This is one of the uniqueness of the international maritime instruments,whose theoretical base is an issue worthy studying.Through theoretical analyses,we find out that the international maritime instruments conforms to the characteristics of International Imperative Law and Customary International Law,therefore,it holds a binding force to the third state as well.