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The Court of Cassation, on the other hand, has limited the scope of application of the Maritime Labour Law to maritime transport works in its decisions to date. According to Article 4/I-a of Labour Law No. 4857, which regulates the exceptions not covered by this law, this law does not apply to workers employed in maritime transport works. When interpreting the scope of application of the Maritime Labour Law, the Court of Cassation used to rely on this provision of Labour Law No. 4857, which is a different law, and accepted that only employees working in maritime transport were within the scope of application of the Maritime Labour Law. However, the Court of Cassation’s determination of the scope of the Maritime Labour Law based on the provision of another law that regulates the exceptions has been criticised in doctrine. This is because the work carried out at sea does not only consist of work related to the transport of goods or persons. Moreover, being subject to the provisions of the general labour law instead of the Maritime Labour Law, which is a specific law enacted taking into account the characteristics of work performed at sea, has negative consequences for seafarers and leads to a loss of rights. In a recent decision of the Court of Cassation, the Court of Cassation ruled that the Maritime Labour Law No. 854 regulates other maritime works other than maritime transport works, and that other works performed at sea, although not maritime transport works, may also be covered by the Maritime Labour Law if other conditions are met. As the Court of Cassation makes similar decisions on this issue, the contradictory and negative results regarding the scope of the Maritime Labour Law will be largely eliminated. As a result, seafarers working on sea cleaning, towing, scientific research and rescue vessels, who have not been accepted within the scope of the Maritime Labour …
Keywords: Seafarer, Maritime Labour Law No. 854, Maritime Transport Works, Sea Surface Cleaning, Towage.…
