On the election day of March 14, we elected our new Senators and Representatives to the House for the period 2010-2014, recognized and other new faces will be those who project the new Laws of the Republic. But, of all these new and old congressmen do you know and will want to look and taste the delights of the sea? I am not saying it in the merely material aspect, which by the way is a delicacy, but in the legal aspect because our country really needs new and good laws to be cooked and served within the legislature that protect and regulate the activities that are developed in those great original and exotic legacies that are our seas and rivers.
Colombia requires the strengthening of its maritime law, since for most of its inhabitants the history of the aggressions and conflicts that it has suffered throughout its republican tradition is unknown. Since its independence and in a period of almost 80 years in which none of our presidents recognized the oceans that bathe the Republic that became for Colombians the "Seas of Forgetfulness", for which it had to suffer six attacks by sea from France, Great Britain, the United States and Italy, all of which culminated in the loss of Panama.
Only Rafael Reyes (1904-1909) wanted to amend such a regrettable error and created by Decree 793 of July 076, 1907 the National Naval School in Cartagena, but Ramón González Valencia, new president (1909-1910), eliminated it with a stroke of the pen on the December 28, 1909.
It was necessary for the conflict with Peru to arise (September 1932 to May 24, 1934) for the Nation's leaders to emerge from the century-long slumber that was incurred in relation to the seas. In this way, in 5 months and in a mad race against the clock, they almost organized a Navy from scratch to be able to attend the actions of Tarapacá and Güepi; already at the beginning of 1934 this incipient Navy balanced and surpassed the naval power of the opponent. Could it be that Colombia must suffer a new aggression to look again towards our seas?
Our maritime law is in its infancy compared to other nations and that is why we must look back in history and understand the why and why of the emergence of maritime law. This one dates back to ancient times. As no country had full jurisdiction over the seas, it became necessary for nations to reach agreements on everything related to ships, their crews, and cargoes that were the subject of dispute.
The first agreements were perhaps based on a handful of traditional customs that would have developed from practical solutions to common problems. Many of these customs became part of Roman law (ULPIANO, Digesto, 14, 1, 1, 20). After the fall of the Empire, maritime trade and its development was interrupted for about 500 years.
After the maritime activity recovered during the Middle Ages, conflicts began to arise and general laws were dictated to solve them. Little by little the laws of the sea were compiled, the best known collections of the first maritime law being the laws of Oleron and the Black Book of the admiralty (the latter consists of an English compilation made during the 14th and 15th centuries). Special forums were also created to administer the laws of the sea, such as the British Admiralty Court, which still exists today.
For the elaboration of the Digest, a commission formed by sixteen members and directed by Triboniano was appointed, which was in charge of studying, selecting and ordering the set of sentences or rulings and opinions of the jurisconsults who had enjoyed the Lus Responderi, which was a concession. imperial that was granted to the jurisconsults.
The members of this commission were empowered to retouch the texts so that they were consistent with the complete work, which would later pose a problem. Approximately two thousand books were revised, from which those of the jurisconsults from the time of the end of the Republic to that of the Low Empire or the time of the Dominate were taken.
In the world there are very few countries that have a defined maritime jurisdiction with roots and history such as England with its Admiralty Court, the United States that have Maritime courts, including China itself. They have been joined by Spain, Panama, and Venezuela, countries that in recent years have issued regulations aimed at implementing the Maritime Jurisdiction with the creation of Courts and Tribunals specialized in this area of law, which is despised in Colombia.
In our country, although it is true that a maritime jurisdiction is managed, it is applied at the purely administrative level, corresponding to the National Navy, through the General Maritime Directorate (DIMAR), to exercise said competence, so it is not established with clarity a true legal security in maritime matters, and that is why, like the ancient Romans, a study of the current situation of Colombian maritime law must be presented in order to create this special branch of law within our justice, not in In vain I have been working on a monograph where the creation of the Maritime and River Court is proposed, and of which some of the elected congressmen are already aware of the past day.
We will trust in their wisdom and above all in their love for what is the future of our country, the maritime and river legacy with which we fortunately still have today to issue norms that enlarge and strengthen our seas and rivers of Colombia legally.
