The institution of maritime liens has been formed in the course of a long historical process, having acquired a different character in the particular States.

Usually, the position of preferred creditors consists in granting to their claims a particular preference when satisfying them from the debtor’s assets and, in certain legal systems, in securing additionally the preferred claims by means of rights of real character.

Simplifying the problem a little, we can say that maritime liens were formed in the context of capitalistic social and economic relations, and that they are adapted to such relations. The legislation of the Socialist States has taken over the institution in question, in spite of the essential change of the whole system of the social and economic relations. Therefore a question inevitably arises as to the role of maritime liens in the systems of the Socialist States.

At the beginning it must be stated that considerable differences exist between the legislation of the particular Socialist States, as far as the regulation of the problem of liens on vessel is concerned. First of all only certain of them, namely: Poland, Rumania and Hungary (before the second world war) ratified the International Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to maritime liens and mortgages, 1926, and none of them has ratified the Convention of the same name of 1967.

Ratification of the Convention of 1926 by a State has obviously influenced its rules. But it must also be pointed out that the above Conventions have exercised a certain influence also on the legislation of those of the States which had not ratified the said Conventions.

So, the assets to which liens attach are nearly identical in the Convention of 1926 with the law of all the States under discussion, except for the Maritime Merchant Shipping Code 1976 of the German Democratic Republic, which limits them a little more narrowly. Greater differences, on the other hand, occur with regard to the nature of the privileged claims. The list of claims to which liens are attached is nearly identical with the Convention of 1926 in the Polish, Rumanian and Hungarian laws.