MMLA Archives - Page 4 of 4

Dr. Ann Fenech appointed on the Executive Council of the Comité Maritime International

June 1, 2014 Leave a Comment

Press Release: June, 2014

The Malta Maritime Law Association is very happy to announce that its President, Dr. Ann Fenech has been elected as one of eight Councillors on the Executive Council of the Comité Maritime International (CMI) by the Assembly of CMI held in Hamburg held yesterday. Dr. Fenech is the first Maltese person to occupy such a post.

As you are fully aware, CMI is a non-governmental international organization established in Antwerp in 1897, with the object of contributing by all appropriate means and activities to the unification of maritime law. Its members are the National Maritime Law Associations and the Malta Maritime Law Association is a very active member of CMI.

CMI has since its inception been tasked with the drafting of some of the most important International Maritime Conventions on a variety of maritime issues including limitation of liability, carriage of goods (the Hague and the Hague Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules, and Rotterdam Rules), arrest of ships, carriage of passengers, civil liability for oil pollution damage, salvage, carriage of hazardous and noxious substances etc.

Meanwhile work has continued – primarily with IMO – on a number of highly important issues including Places of Refuge for vessels in distress, Fair Treatment of Seafarers, and Guidelines for National Legislation on Piracy and serious Maritime Crime. Yesterday the Assembly also approved a Resolution approving the text of the Draft International Convention on Foreign Judicial Sales of Ships and their Recognition.

The Maltese Maritime Law Association has been extremely active through a sub committee set up on purpose and has made a number of very valid contributions to the drafting which have been adopted at the Beijing conference, the Dublin Conference and in the final draft approved yesterday at Hamburg. The MMLA was represented in Hamburg by our President Dr. Ann Fenech, Treasurer Dr. Nicky Valenzia and member Dr. Adrian Attard.

The Comité was one of the first non-governmental international organisations to be granted consultative status by the IMO (which is itself a Consultative Member of the Comité) and the CMI remains in continual contact with all other recognised international organisations concerned in any way with maritime law.

To facilitate its increasing work with subsidiary bodies of the United Nations such as UNCTAD, UNCITRAL and the Office for the Law of the Sea, the CMI has in 1997 been granted consultative status with the UN. The Comité Maritime International also has the CMI Charitable Trust which was set up in 1985 which administers funds used for the advancement of legal education for the public benefit and the advancement and promotion of research and study in the fields of comparative law and international marine and commercial law and the publication of the results of such research.

The trust assists with the financing of visiting CMI lecturers to the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta and finances the CMI Prize for the best overall student at IMLI. Last year the prize for the best overall student was won by Dr. Denise Micallef.

Dr. Fenech was also appointed as one of the 7 trustees making up the Board of Trustees of the CMI Charitable Trust.

20 Years of Maritime Law

April 17, 2014 Leave a Comment

Times of Malta, Thursday, April 17, 2014. By Ann Fenech

The Malta Maritime Law Association is 20 this year. It was set up to provide a forum for lawyers who specialised in maritime law or who were interested in maritime law.

With the maritime sector picking up substantial momentum and in the knowledge that any industry is as successful as the robustness of its laws regulating the sector, a further focus for the association was to provide the platform from where legal maritime specialists could work hand in glove with the regulator and the lawmakers to ensure that our laws provide for the requirements of the international maritime industry of which Malta has become a key player.

Malta’s geographic position is really its foundation stone of its maritime vocation which has developed and transformed, reflecting the exigencies of the day from a place of refuge to trading post to important ship repair haven – all additional pillars supporting what has become a truly diversified maritime industry. And if we one were to dwell over what maritime activities we can boast of today, it is really simple to understand why we are truly a maritime nation.

Modern state-of-the-art transhipment facilities, oil storage, bunkering, ship repair, yacht repair, yacht marinas, worldclass sailing events, towage, pilotage, ship agencies, husbanding, offshore supply services and, of course, a flourishing shipping register – now the largest in Europe – give us the credentials to call ourselves a maritime nation of international repute. None of this would have occurred if we did not have a robust legal framework to devise, handle and maintain this development.

The very aim of the association is to provide the space for maritime specialists to meet and to discuss laws, cases, new developments, strategy, always with the aim of either coming up with new ideas or fine-tuning and amending what we have. Originally membership of the association was limited to lawyers.

However, as any maritime lawyer will state, the daily activities of a maritime lawyer are certainly not limited to the law. Because of the nature of the beast, our work is intrinsically linked to numerous technical issues which invariably attach to most shipping cases and projects. As a result, it was decided five years ago to open our membership to other professionals whose professions are also part of the maritime sector.

Today our membership consists of lawyers interested in maritime law as well as terminal operators, tug operators, naval architects, engineers, ship agents and ship owners and a host of other interested parties Today our membership consists of lawyers interested in maritime law as well as terminal operators, tug operators, naval architects, engineers, ship agents and ship owners and a host of other interested parties. This has enriched our association tremendously.

The association also sits together with Transport Malta, the Ministry of Transport and the Attorney General’s office on the Malta Legislative Advisory Council and the very aim of that council is to ensure that all those who should be involved in a discussion related to the development or amendment of any laws or national strategy affecting the maritime industry are singing off the same hymn sheet.

In addition, the Malta Maritime Law Association is a full member of the Comité Maritime International (CMI). The CMI is an international body established in 1897 with consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Its members are the national maritime law associations and it is administered by an executive council. It is CMI which drafted the Arrest Conventions of 1952 and 1999, the Salvage Convention 1989 and the Limitation of Liability Conventions of 1957 and 1976 to mention but a few.

Our membership of this prestigious international maritime body enables the association to participate fully in the activities of CMI. These include assemblies and conferences and contribution to the several questionnaires which CMI distributes regularly as part of its work on either the fine-tuning of existing conventions or the introduction of new ones. It is truly a privilege to form part of such an august and highly respected international body.

An important function of the MMLA is the organisation of top-quality seminars which are a perfect opportunity for the legal and technical bodies to come together and share experiences. Over the past five years these have included a joint seminar with the International Salvage Union in 2009, a seminar on the Rotterdam Rules in 2010, a seminar on the Commercial Yacht Code in 2011, a seminar on the Maritime Labour Convention in 2012, and a seminar in celebration of European Maritime Day in 2013.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary, MMLA will be joining forces with the European Maritime Law Organisation (EMLO) and will be organising a joint spring seminar at the Chamber of Commerce on May 8. This will be a perfect opportunity to listen to experts in the field of European developments, sanctions, stowaways and illegal immigrants, state aid, limitation of liability and other subjects.

We are honoured that the the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, chairman of the European Maritime Law Organisation, will be with us for this event. Profound thanks go to our main sponsors – Transport Malta and Tug Malta Ltd.

Ann Fenech is the president of the Malta Maritime Law Association.

Maritime honours bestowed

June 23, 2013 Leave a Comment

Times of Malta, Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Malta Maritime Law Association (MMLA) recently joined the rest of the maritime community in Europe to celebrate European Maritime Day.

To celebrate the occasion the association organised an event during which its president, Ann Fenech, conferred, for the first time, an honorary membership on Joe Borg, former EU Commissioner, Lino Vassallo, Permanent Representative of Malta to the International Maritime Organisation and former Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, and John Sullivan, chairman of Tug Malta, for their invaluable contribution to the maritime sector.

The association was set up in 1994 with the aim of promoting the study and advancement of maritime law. The MMLA is an affiliated member of the Comité Maritime International, the oldest international organisation in the maritime field, established in 1897.

Attending the event were 74 delegates, including Economy, Investment and Small Business Minister Chris Cardona.

Maritime Labour Convention and Maltese law at MMLA event

March 21, 2013 Leave a Comment

Times of Malta, Thursday, March 21, 2013

Guidelines are in place to help shipowners adapt to the new obligations so that all vessels would comply by August 20 when the MLC will enter into force. The Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and its incorporation into Maltese legislation was the focus of a recent Malta Maritime Law Association seminar at the Chamber of Commerce’s Exchange Buildings in Valletta. Around 90 participants representing a cross section of the local maritime industry were welcomed by MMLA president Ann Fenech.

Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen Ivan Sammut explained that the MLC had combined best practices and standards of previous conventions with new technology to achieve both favourable working conditions for seafarers and secure economic interests in fair competition for quality shipowners.

While the MLC sets the standards, it was up to the flag states to provide the national legislation. Malta was the 34th state to ratify the MLC at the beginning of this year. Mr Sammut explained that the legislative process transposing the Convention in the Laws of Malta was in its final stage.

The legal instrument, the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Rules 2013, had been drafted and circulated to the public for consultation and Guidelines for the Implementation of the MLC 2006 can be downloaded from the website of the Merchant Shipping Directorate within Transport Malta.

Mr Sammut explained the regulations included in the MLC and while many were already provided for in the present legislation, some required changes from the industry. Mr Sammut referred to the guidelines which helped shipowners adapt to the new obligations so that all vessels would comply by August 20 when the MLC will enter into force

Member of the Comité Maritime International

Dr. Ann Fenech appointed on the Executive Council of the Comité Maritime International

20 Years of Maritime Law

Maritime honours bestowed

Maritime Labour Convention and Maltese law at MMLA event

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