Protection of legal interests of the yacht owner in the case concerning violation of customs rules

During the yacht operation abroad, our clients often face the need to cooperate customs authorities of the vessel call state. Customs formalities usually do not cause difficulties and delays, however, there are cases when additional legal support is required. 

In July 2022, Interlegal Yachting department completed case work upon defending the yacht owner’s lawful interests and supporting court proceedings against customs office in one of the EU member states. The work was based on request filed by our client who received a ruling on initiating court proceedings due to violation of terms for customs regime of temporary import for a pleasure yacht. The client was particularly concerned about possible yacht arrest as a security measure for the period of court proceedings. In order to properly represent the client in court and properly defend its interests, Interlegal promptly engaged lawyers from the associated office. As you know, Interlegal has 6 own offices in the Black Sea Region and over 60 associated offices worldwide, including in the Mediterranean Region being popular among yachtsmen. Jointly with local lawyers, we drafted a legal position on the merits, collected and submitted a set of evidence, as well as held a series of negotiations between the parties. 

Project specification was the fact that in parallel with case consideration by the court, we succeeded in holding negotiations on entering into amicable agreement with customs office. The main advantage of such result was quick dispute settlement, which made it possible not to waste time on many years of case consideration by several courts under constant risk of yacht arrest which would cause constant discomfort for the yacht owner both in high-season and in off-season. 

With regards to the fact that lately inspections of pleasure yachts by customs offices and port authorities have become more frequent, one should not forget about an option to obtain prompt legal support from local European lawyers under the yacht location. Interlegal yachting lawyers are ready to provide reliable legal assistance, to assess risks and to involve local lawyers in strategy development aimed at defense and representation of interests of customs offices and judicial bodies.