상법 보험편 해상보험 규정의 의의와 개선방안

Abstract

Insurance Contract Law is included in the Korean Commercial Code (KCC) as one of its five Chapters. Provisions regarding marine insurance is a part of insurance contract law Chapter. Article 663 is a compulsory provision in that an agreement which treats the insured less favorably than the provisions stipulated in the KCC becomes null and void. However, Art. 663 excludes marine insurance from the scope of the application. As a result, the marine insurance law provisions under the KCC function only as a default rule. Traditionally, marine insurance practice in Korea has been heavily influenced by the English law. Most of marine insurance contracts has an English governing law provision. Therefore, marine insurance law provisions in the KCC are not applicable to the most of marine insurance contracts in Korea. The writer tries to reform this kind of malfunction of marine insurance provisions in the KCC. One of the suggested idea is to make a part of marine insurance contract subject to mandatory application of Art. 663 only when the insured is not a person as an entity but a private person. Another idea is to revise provisions in the KCC in accordance with the current wordings in the marine insurance policy and standard terms. If the KCC maintains the same provisions as the standard terms in the marine insurance policy, the parties do not try to insert the same provision in the standard terms as the KCC, because marine insurance provisions in the KCC as a default rule will be automatically applicable to their insurance contract in case that there is no such agreement. The writer shows about 10 possible items for the improvements.