An Evening with Lord Mustill

 

June 22^nd 2000

 

Prepared by Patrick Griggs; Secretary of BMLA

 

 

 

The British Maritime Law Association was established in 1908.  It was created principally in response to a call from the Antwerp based Comite Maritime International for the creation of National Maritime Law Associations.  National Associations would be invited to meet other affiliated Associations periodically to discuss international unification of Maritime Law.  International unification of maritime law was to be the sole function of the CMI.  The founders stated that no maritime law should be promulgated that did not have input from shipowners, merchants, underwriters, average adjusters, bankers and other persons interested in the maritime trades.  After this consultation process had taken place it was then and only then the duty of the lawyers “to discern what, among diverse solutions, is the best.”  Apart from the role of National Associations in working with other CMI nations to create international conventions rules etc. it was understood that National Associations would also act as advisers and consultants to national Governments in relation to the implementation of International Conventions and on other domestic maritime law.

 

So there is a bit of history here.  Our predecessors in the British Association contributed to the creation of all the private international maritime law conventions which play such an important part in our day to day work.  Where would we “wet” lawyers be without the 1910 Collision Convention the 1910 and 1989 Salvage Conventions.  What about the Hague and Hague Visby Rules, the York Antwerp Rules on General Average, the three Limitation Conventions 1924, 1957 & 1976 and CLC Convention of 1969, the Arrest Convention 1952.  I could go on.  The BMLA has been responsible in relation to all those Conventions for co-ordinating the contribution from UK maritime.  Not just lawyers but people in the insurance market, shipowners, brokers and so on.

 

With history comes a bit of responsibility.  How can we maintain the quality of the contributions of the BMLA to current projects?  Indeed are those projects worthwhile?  Currently the CMI is working on a project jointly with UNCITRAL (the UN trade agency) which will, we hope and anticipate, result in an instrument which unifies much of the law relating to the Carriage of Goods by Sea as it relates to the functions of the Bill of Lading.  Additionally, and this is the big prize, we hope that it will be possible to provide a new liability regime appropriate to the instrument.  This would replace the Hague, Hague / Visby and Hamburg Rules.  I hope you agree with me that projects don’t come much more important than that.  Stuart Beare, one time Senior Partner of Richards Butler, is in charge of this CMI project, and is doing a fantastic job.

 

The CMI is also about to produce a Model Law on Piracy and Acts of Maritime Violence.  We have been invited by IUMI to consider a major overhaul of the York / Antwerp Rules and we have also recently embarked upon a project to investigate a number of aspects of the law of marine insurance which tend to create problems for member nations.

 

On the UK domestic front BMLA Committee are on ratification of the 1999 Arrest Convention, the Pollution Committee is looking at European Commission post “Erika” initiatives major changes to the Athens Convention 1974.

 

All the work done by the CMI and by the affiliated National Maritime Law Associations is voluntary and the CMI itself is supported financial by contributions from National Maritime Law Associations such as the BMLA.

 

As I said earlier, the history of successful achievement places a burden on succeeding generations to continue with the good work.

 

There has always been some criticism of the CMI and of the BMLA in that they tend to be dominated by a generation of individuals who are approaching retirement or, as in my case and that of Stuart Beare, actually retired.  This is probably inevitable on the basis that we have the time, the knowledge, the experience and the inclination to contribute to this work.  However we didn’t get to the positions which we now occupy without having served something of an apprenticeship.  I first became an active member of the BMLA more than 20 years ago and attended my first CMI Conference in 1981.

 

The message I want to get across tonight is that there is interesting and important work being done.  There will be a continuing need for this, both at the international and national level.  There is no point in sitting back and waiting for international Conventions to be implemented into our law before complaining about the quality of the instrument.  We should be in there during the process of development of that instrument to ensure that when it hits the statute book it makes sense and works within the context of our own legal system.  We in the UK have the huge advantage of having English as our mother tongue – if we want our Conventions in English you need to be involved in the drafting process.

 

One of the main purposes of tonight’s meeting is to explain the background and discuss with you ways in which you might wish to get involved in this important work.  By the very nature of things not every member of the Association can become a member of one of our Standing Committees.  On the other hand if there is a member of your firm who belongs to one of the Standing Committees perhaps you could act as his (or her) alternate and attend meetings.

 

A list of Standing Committee Members will be updated and placed on the BMLA Website shortly. (www.bmla.org.uk)

 

Our membership structure is not helpful – firms belong not individuals (except Barristers).

 

The CMI publishes a series of Newsletters each year and a Yearbook and through these which are now on the CMI website, www.comitemaritime.org you can keep abreast of developments.  Some of the topics may not be of interest to you or relevant to your particular business but others will.  I think you owe it to yourselves and to your clients to have an informed view of legislation in the pipeline.  May I also say that I think that your firms, despite the pressures of billable hours, owe it to you to give you the time to acquire this knowledge and contribute to this work.

 

I have said enough and I would welcome a debate on the means by which you could become more closely involved in work of the BMLA and the CMI.