Friday, June 08, 2007
International Maritime Law
International Maritime Law is an important field of law, because it regulates what is perhaps the largest support service to commerce - maritime transport. There are two important branches of international maritime law - shipping law, which regulates the private operation of ships, and public international maritime law, i.e. the law of the sea.

The IMO International Maritime Law Institute is situated at Tal-Qroqq University Grounds, and trains students from a host of different countries in law and practice in the maritime field, straddling both private law as well as public international law. The focus is mainly on the international conventions and practice, wherever possible, so as to give a knowledge on the international regime on each subject. It is then the students' task to familiarise themselves with the regimes applicable in their respective countries, based on the conventions which were adhered to within their jurisdiction.

Last September, 39 students enrolled at the institute - 36 following the Master of Laws programme, and 4 following the Advanced Diploma. This year's course was the largest complement ever, an encouraging sign of the institute's growing success. There have also been students following short courses at the Institute during the year.  Since the students come from countries having different legal systems, the course kicks off with a number of lectures on the different legal systems and introductions to the two main areas of law: public international law and shipping law.

Subsequently a number of courses are given, each comprising of a series of lectures, imparting knowledge on the various areas of law involved. Interestingly, the course has the unique feature of providing pratical knowledge too: it takes into account the fact that the students are, in many cases, already practising lawyers or are somehow employed in the maritime field. This year, as always, the course was composed of lawyers, a number of Captains, Commanders and other Officers from Navies all over the world, a judge, and various holders of important offices within their countries.

This year included visits by various renowned experts or eminent firgures in international maritime law who imparted their knowledge to the students in courses such as: Carriage of Goods by Sea by Professor Francis Reynolds, Marine Insurance by Dr Marko Pavliha and Professor Pingf Sze, Marine Environment by Mr Mitja Grbec and Dr Stefano Filletti. Some of the lectures had a more practical approach, such as those on Maritime Safety and Security. One of these visitors was Dr Philippe Boisson from Bureau Veritas, who gave a detailed and fascinating expostion of the legal issues was accompanied by pratical issues whih help to understand the reasons behind the law, and how to translate that law into the day-to-day running of a ship. Another such visitor was Prof. F. Wiswall, a world expert on collisions and now at the helm of the Comite' Maritime Internationale, who highlighted many practical and legal issues concerning collissions at sea. Other visitors of eminent standing included  President Emeritus of Portugal Mario Soares, whose contribution to the law of the sea was of deep significance, senior officials from the US Coast Guard, Commissioner Joe Borg who is currently spearheading the EU's Green Paper on Maritime Policy and our very own Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, himself a former practitioner in maritime law.

As always, the sheer driving force behind this course was the lecturing complement of the Institute. Professor Attard, Director of IMLI, is at the helm, providing the students with many networking opportunities, as well as an astounding insight into the law of the sea. His lectures are delivered with a passion on the subject, which is highly infectious as he delves further into issues concerning delimitation of maritime zones, the high seas, the Exclusive Economic Zone, and a multitude of international law issues that are currently of interest. The resident and regular lecturers, through their encouragement and support for the students, have made following the course a pleasant journey indeed.

Other than the academic work, life at IMLI has also entailed interesting extracurricular activities of interest. This included a number of receptions where the students integrated with the visiting lectures, field trips to two ships, an international cooking competition, a photographic competition entitled "Life at IMLI" and of course, several student-organised activities.

Above all, perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned for many was about tolerance. Since the cultures of the participants vary immensely, students had to exercise discretion and tolerance with respect to each other, and learn to appreciate that other people from a different culture have a different way of doing things. Of course this will be particularly useful to those of us that will proceed to obtain employment in a multi-cultural environment.

The course entailed attendance of three lectures daily, which spanned throughout most of the day. Tests and assignments during the first term permitted guaging progress. The second term proceeded at a much faster pace, entailing submission of the legislative drafting project and the dissertation, assignment and, at the end, the final examinations: one exam in Shipping Law and one exam in the Law of the Sea.  Tension was rife during the last month - as would be expected - but all's well that ends well, and the students are now looking forward to continuing their careers and putting their knowledge into use.

For most participants, reverting to student life has meant that, for the past eight months, many responsibilities were lifted, and one was only required to focus on the completion of the course. The rest became secondary. Other than the tension associated with exams, life at IMLI could be said to have been immensely interesting and, I dare say, fun.


The course ended formally on graduation day, this year on the 5th May 2007. This was followed by a field trip to London, which is the heart of maritime law activity. A number of visits to important institutions were made. From London, most students headed back out to their homes all over the world. 

The subject I chose for my dissertation concerns competition in maritime transport. A copy may be obtained upon request.
geraldine
6/8/2007 11:47:11 AM (Romance Daylight Time, UTC+02:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Trackback
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