The Institute of International Shipping & Trade Law (IISTL) Blog
Official blog of Swansea University's IISTL, where we keep you up to date with the latest maritime and commercial legal news.
Sponsored by
The Institute’s 14th Annual Colloquium will be held on 10-11 September 2018. The subject of this year’s event is new technologies and their present and future effect on shipping and trade law.
To register for this event, please visit our Eventbrite page.
Continue reading 14th IISTL Colloquium on New Technologies and Shipping/Trade Law
The Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL), a research centre within the College of Law and Criminology, continues to expand its operations. On 26 June, it collaborated with marine advocacy group Oceana to organise an afternoon seminar in London on the insurance and regulatory aspects of irregular fishing (known in the trade as fishing that is illegal, unreported and uncontrolled (IUU)). The main purpose of the event was to disseminate as widely as possible the results of a study carried out by three members of the Institute (Barış Soyer, George Leloudas and Dora Nikaki) in collaboration with researchers from University of British Columbia (Canada). In summary, the study found that it had been disconcertingly easy for vessels involved in IUU fishing to get liability insurance in the market. The study recommended an urgent review of underwriting processes and consideration of regulatory changes to put insurers under a legal duty to deny cover to vessels known to be connected with IIU activities.
The event, which attracted an impressive 60 delegates, provided an excellent opportunity for those throughout the sector to engage in the debate. Presentations from Lasse Gustavsson (Senior Vice President of Oceana Europe) , Kjetil Saeter (Norwegian Business Daily), David Vajnai (Vice President Marsh Global Marine Practice), Baris Soyer and Gerorge Leloudas (IISLT) and Dana Miller (a marine scientist with Oceana Europe) were followed by a lively debate led by insurers, brokers and policy-makers. The afternoon ended with a reception generously sponsored by the Waterloo Foundation, which was also the funder of the project. An academic article, which is co-written by Professor B. Soyer, Associate Professor G. Leoudas and Dr D. Miller, detailing main findings of the project is to appear in Transnational Environmental Law later this year.
Dr Leloudas talking about the regulatory aspects of the issue
4-5 SEPTEMBER 2017
The annual gathering, organised by the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL), has now established itself as a regular fixture in the calendar of maritime lawyers. This year’s event will be devoted to Maritime Liabilities in A Regional and Global Context: The EU and Beyond.
Topics covered will include:
Should you not like to take advantage of our on-campus accommodation, please feel free to make your own arrangements. There are several good hotels in town, notably the Dragon Hotel, tel: 01792 657100, and the Marriott Hotel, tel: 01792 642020. Please note, however, that the organisers cannot take responsibility for booking accommodation off campus.
Should you have any further queries, please direct your email to: Ms Stella Kounakou 806114@swansea.ac.uk
We looking forward to seeing you at Swansea.
Professor B. Soyer
IUU fishing is a global problem that threatens ocean ecosystems and sustainable fisheries. Various public law measures have been taken by the international community and the European Union to combat IUU fishing, but while these efforts, combined with those of various NGOs, have yielded positive results, it is believed that the insurance market could play a more active role in the fight against IUU fishing.
The primary object of this Symposium is to raise awareness of IUU fishing among stakeholders within the London insurance market. To facilitate discussion and inspire engagement from attendees, case studies within the context of the legal and insurance perspective will be presented by experts in the field.
The Seminar will be held at the Hallam Conference Centre (44 Hallam Street, London, W1W 6JJ) starting at 13:30.
A reception will be held directly after the event from 17:00 – 18:00.
Participation is free but please note that places are limited.
The most recent addition in the list of publications of IISTL members is the book entitled “Air Cargo Insurance” by Associate Professor George Leloudas and Professor Malcolm Clarke.
This exciting new book is the only one on the market that deals exclusively with air cargo insurance, and will therefore, be a vital addition to the collection of any practitioner, professional or academic working in the field. The book analyses the model policies and standard terms and conditions of air cargo insurance used in the London markets. The authors also provide readers with an invaluable perspective on cases in other jurisdictions, and the book discusses freight forwarders’ relations with airlines and addresses the possibility of recovery from third parties.
The idea of the lex petrolea as the customary law of the petroleum industry, and possibly even as an aspect of some more general lex mercatoria, has long been argued about in both in academic and judicial circles.
Today, in the light of the ever-increasing complexities of the global petroleum industry, the existence and composition of lex petrolea as an element of the transnational law of ownership, extraction, transportation and trade of hydrocarbon resources is more important than ever. To this end, the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, has organised a joint one-day seminar on the subject with the Center for Energy, Law, and Business of University of Texas Law School. This will take place on 21 June 2016 at Etc. Venues, Monument, 8 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1AE.
For further information, please see the Lex Petrolea Symposium (Flyer)
To register, please download the Lex Petrolea Symposium (Registration Form)
Topics discussed will be varied, but will include:
• Boundaries of Oil and Gas Law
• Gas Pricing Disputes: Is Arbitration Delivering?
• Protection of Foreign Direct Investment in Upstream Enterprises
• Environmental Regulations and Hydraulic Fracturing: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Experience and Implications of the 2015 Paris Agreement
• Regulation of Fracking in the UK
• What is a ship in the context of petroleum law?
• Pollution from Offshore Installations- A Sui Generis Liability Regime?
• Offshore Oil and Gas Resources: Is There a Rule of Capture under International Law of the Sea?
Speakers and Chairpersons:
• Professor Simon Baughen
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University
• Randy Burton
Partner, Fisherbroyles, Houston
• Tabetha Kurtz-Shefford
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University
• Sophie Nappert
Arbitrator, Gray’s Inn, London
• Simon Rainey QC
Quadrant Chambers
• Professor Melinda E. Taylor
Executive Director, Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Business, University of Texas
• Dr Nima Tabari
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University
• Stephen Tromans QC
39 Essex Chambers
• Professor Michael F. Sturley
Fannie Coplin Regents Chair in Law, University of Texas
• Professor Andrew Tettenborn
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University
• Youri van Logchem
Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law
From modest and experimental beginnings in 2005, since then these colloquia have grown exponentially and established themselves as a key event in the commercial maritime law calendar. Today they attract not only the best academics in the area from the UK, Europe and elsewhere, but also large numbers of leading lawyers, judges and executives from shipbroking, P & I, banking and other businesses.
This year’s event, the eleventh in the series, was held on 10-11 September at Swansea and was devoted to international sale contracts and related issues such as carriage issues, documentary credits and cargo insurance. It was fully embraced by the international shipping and trade community, attracting 72 delegates from 11 jurisdictions. In addition to academics, lawyers, arbitrators and P & I interests were represented; from the commercial judiciary we were delighted to welcome the Hon. Mr Justice Males (Presiding Judge of the North Eastern Circuit), who enthusiastically participated in the debates and chaired one of the sessions. Apart from academics from the IISTL, namely Professors Baughen, Soyer, Tettenborn and Williams and Associate Professor Theodora Nikaki, the following academics and practitioners presented papers at the event:
Professor Olivier Cachard (University of Lorraine, France); Professor Jason Chuah (Head of Department, The City Law School, City University London); Sara Cockerill QC (Essex Court Chambers);Dr Miriam Goldby (Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London); Damian Honey (Partner, Holman Fenwick Willan LLP); Ruth Hosking (Quadrant Chambers); Peter MacDonald-Eggers QC (7 King’s Bench Walk and IISTL); Simon Rainey QC (Quadrant Chambers and IISTL); Stuart Shepherd (Partner, Ince & Co LLP); Professor Michael Sturley (University of Texas, Austin); and Dr Frank Stevens (Roosendaal Kezer Advocaten, Antwerp).
From left to right: Professor James Hu (Shanghai Maritime University), Professor Richard Williams (IISTL) and Professor Olivier Cachard (University of Lorraine, France)
The Colloquium dinner, most generously sponsored by leading commercial law publisher Informa Law and entertainingly hosted by Head of College Professor Elwen Evans QC, was held at Sketty Hall. Informa (to whom, as ever, the IISTL remains enormously grateful) has also agreed to publish the papers presented at the Colloquium in book format in 2016, thus continuing another excellent traditional.
Talking after the event, Professor Soyer, Director of the IISTL, commented:
“The fact that this year’s Colloquium attracted record numbers of delegates from all around the world, including the US and China, is a clear sign that this event has been taken to heart by the shipping and trade community and is a permanent fixture. I would like to thank all those who helped: delegates, speakers and chairpersons, and also my colleagues at the IISTL who provided their unstinting support. I am leading a talented group of individuals here at the IISTL, who have enormous respect for each other and the sector that we aim to serve. They exemplify everything that is good about diversity and co-operation, and this becomes ever more obvious during events like this!
A number of events are planned for 2016, and the IISTL will continue to work towards achieving one of its key missions: namely bridging the gap between academia and practice.”
.jpg?w=660)
Professor Baris Soyer (Director, IISTL) presenting his paper
Academic staff teaching at Swansea LLM degrees are at the forefront of scholarship in their particular areas of expertise, which they combine with skilled and innovative teaching.
They are also members of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL), an internationally renowned research centre, which promotes research and teaching of the highest standard in the fields of international shipping and trade law.
The IISTL has a global reputation and its members are often invited to speak at international conferences to disseminate the results of their research. Like any other year, members of the Postgraduate Legal Studies Department with the commencement of the academic year of 2014-15 have travelled around the world delivering academic papers in prominent international events on shipping, transport and trade law.
On 17 September 2014, Dr Theodora Nikaki delivered a keynote address at the InterTran Research Project Closing Conference in Helsinki entitled “European Intermodal Sustainable Transport – Quo Vadis?”. The InterTran project is an interdisciplinary research project focusing on the expanding new, European transport policy from a legal and logistical point of view. It is a research project financed by the Finnish Academy and The Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law jointly. Dr Nikaki’s paper, titled “The Future of Multimodal Transport: Is the Uniform Liability System the Way Forward?”, tested the feasibility of the uniform liability system as basis of a new multimodal regime. The paper also examined the difficulties in implementing a new multimodal transport regime arising out of the existing international transport conventions, a theme which also provoked a lively debate among the participants.
.jpg?resize=174%2C196)
On 11 September, Professor Andrew Tettenborn addressed the Eighth European Colloquium on Maritime Law Research, hosted by the Rotterdam Institute for Shipping & Transport Law (RISTL). The European Maritime Colloquia are a series of biannual conferences organized by leading maritime law centers in Europe, in collaboration with the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law (University of Oslo, Norway). The Eighth Colloquium’s theme was “Common core, PECL and DCFR: Could they change shipping law?” and Professor Tettenborn delivered a paper on “”How far the imposition of a serious good faith obligation (an important part of both PECL and DCFR) might impact on the black-and-white world of shipping contracts.” His thought-provocative paper has sparked a debate over the concept of good faith in various jurisdictions and its impact on shipping law.
On 16 October, Professor Simon Baughen gave a paper at a conference at the University of Marmara on “Marine Pollution Liabilities in EU waters. New Developments” which considered the impact on oil rig operators of art. 38 of the 2013 Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Directive, art 38, extends the geographical limits of water pollution to the EEZ of Member States. The paper also considered the extent to which the CLC system of civil liability for oil pollution from ships has been undermined by civil claims attached to criminal proceedings arising out of the ‘Erika’ spill, in France, and the ‘Prestige’ spill, in Spain.
Most recently (7-8 November), Professor Bariş Soyer, the Director of the IISTL, attended the International Conference on “Hong Kong Maritime Law Forum” organised by the Hong Kong Centre for Maritime and Transportation Law (City University of Hong Kong) and delivered a paper discussing why the Athens Convention 2002 will be a good model for Asian countries to follow to regulate compensation claims for passengers carried by sea. Professor Soyer has written on this subject extensively and is currently working on a piece with Dr Leloudas, another IISTL member, evaluating how air law conventions can be utilised to fill the gaps that arise in the context of the Athens Convention.
On 8 November Professor Simon Baughen co-organised a conference at the University of Bristol on “Corporate Accountability and Access to remedies for Corporate Wrongs”, the third in a series of conferences organised by the University of Sheffield with an ESRC grant. The series will conclude in 2017 with a submission to the UN Human Rights Council based on findings from the conference series. Professor Baughen gave a paper “Life after Kiobel. The future for human rights litigations against MNCs in the US.” on the future of human rights litigation in the US District Courts under the Alien Tort Statute following the Supreme Court’s decision on the territorial reach of the statute in April 2013 in Kiobel.
Similarly, with the commencement of the new academic year, IISTL members spread around the world presenting academic papers in various international events addressing shipping, transport, trade and marine and environmental law.
Professor Bariş Soyer, the Director of the IISTL, was invited to present a paper at the 8th International Conference of Maritime Law organised by the Piraeus Bar Association held at the Congress Hall of the Piraeus Port Authority (10-12 October 2013). This event was the latest in a prestigious series, first established 22 years ago, which provides a forum for maritime academics, practitioners, public officers and experts from all over the world to discuss timely issues of theoretical and practical interest. The theme of this year’s event, which was a fitting tribute to the late Emeritus Professor Anthony M. Antapassis (Athens University), to whom the conference was dedicated, was ‘Shipping in Periods of Distress. Professor Soyer’s paper, entitled ‘Early Redelivery of Chartered Vessels – Remedies Available for Shipowners’ was well received and prompted an interesting debate on the subject. The early redelivery of chartered vessels poses significant problems for shipowners. As Professor Soyer outlined, the current legal protection accorded to shipowners under English law is far from satisfactory. In his paper, Professor Soyer elaborated how shipowners could best protect themselves by incorporating contractual provisions into their agreements with charterers.
In May 2014, Professor Soyer was invited by the Italian School of Judiciary (Scuola Superiore Della Magistratura) to speak at their Conference held at Genova on international maritime law. This event, which was organised in collaboration with the Association of Bar of Genoa, attracted delegates from the Italian judiciary and legal practice. Professor Soyer in his paper evaluated the position of standard cargo insurance on offer in international insurance markets highlighting their limitations especially in the context of multimodal transport.
On 11-14 October Dr Richard Caddell participated at the Sixth Symposium on Polar Law, an annual event dedicated to the regulation of the Arctic and Antarctic regions and which has rapidly established itself as the leading scholarly forum for debating these issues. The Polar Regions – especially the Arctic – have rapidly become a core area of international focus, raising controversial questions over their future governance and the exploitation of marine resources. Dr Caddell presented a paper entitled “Regulating the Whale Wars: Freedom of Protest, Navigational Safety and the Law of the Sea in the Polar Regions” in which he examined the scope for environmental activism at sea and its conflict with other legitimate uses of ocean space. The paper was especially timely given the recent arrest of 30 Greenpeace activists for boarding the Prirazlomnaya oil platform in Russian Arctic waters, a situation that Dr Caddell examined alongside significant legal developments from a variety of other jurisdictions, which also provoked a lively debate among the participants.
Dr Caddell has also been invited to join an expert group reviewing the future protection of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) under European Law, with a view towards reforming the current unsatisfactory and contentious legal position of these species. Moreover, in late October he presented a paper entitled “Wilderness Protection in Estonia” at a workshop of invited participants at the University of Tilburg, the Netherlands. Here Dr Caddell will present research that will form part of a chapter contribution to the first major book examining European wilderness law, edited by Professor Kees Bastmeijer, scheduled for publication by Cambridge University Press in 2014.
Dr. Leloudas was invited at the 5th Annual McGill Conference on International Aviation Liability & Insurance which was held at Montreal, Canada (25-26 October 2013). The Conference is one of the main international events in the field of carriage of passengers by air and attracts aviation legal professionals from all over the world. Dr. Leloudas was on the panel that discussed the erosion of the principle of exclusivity under the Warsaw and the Montreal Conventions, a principle which creates a constant stream of case law worldwide with often mixed results. Dr. Leloudas was one of the very few academics from outside McGill who was invited to speak at the Conference.
Furthermore, Dr George Leloudas was invited to present a paper to the LL.M (Air Law) students of the Institute of Air & Space Law of McGill University in Canada (24 October 2013). The paper was entitled “Multimodal Transport under the Montreal and the Warsaw Convention: a velvet revolution?” in which he examines the boundaries of application of the air law conventions in a multimodal context. This issue is in high academic and practical demand as result of conflicting case law developing in continental, English and US courts, with Dr. Leloudas providing his interpretation of the current judicial developments and his prediction as to where the future lies. The presentation gave the impetus for a heated discussion among the students, the academics of the Institute and the speaker on the (dis)uniformity of this area of law and the commercial reasons behind the latest judicial developments.