Special Drawing Rights in the Maritime Safety Law and their impact on administrative fines that are a source of state revenue

Abstract

The study presents results of a research on an application of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) units of account when determining the value of administrative fines imposed for violation of norms of the Maritime Safety Law. Application of Special Drawing Rights in this area of regulation does not affect only state revenue from these fines, but it may also be important when determining a degree of a repressive effect on a punished entity and on their financial situation. A place of administrative fines in the catalogue of public measures is presented in an introductory part of this article. This part of the text also discusses the extent of the use of SDRs in the Polish maritime law. Detailed analysis of Article 126 of the Maritime Safety Law and on its practical use in 2014–2019 is made in the subsequent part of this paper. The last section analyses statistical data obtained from selected institutions – the Maritime Office in Gdynia and the Maritime Office in Szczecin.
The study mainly uses an analysis of the law in force and statistical data. However, the reflection on the latter method is limited to 2014–2019 due to the pandemic which took place in 2020 and in subsequent years. The state of epidemic affected Poland’s public finances and since the paper intends to operate on comparable data (in the period of a relatively stable financial situation of the state) it was deemed necessary to limit the time frame covered by this research. The analysis of the law in force and statistical data were used to examine Polish legal order to verify views expressed in relevant (Polish and foreign) literature and to discuss data which have been obtained by the author under access to public information. The study reflects the legal status as of 28 March 2022.