Peace and serenity required at Vancouver CMI meeting

AFTER an absence of more than twenty years, the Comité Maritime International is returning to Canada. In 1981 the venue for the CMI Conference was Montreal, where a Convention on Salvage (later the Salvage Convention 1989) was produced. This year it will be Vancouver, on Canada’s Pacific rim. As before, the Canadian Maritime Law Association (CMLA) is arranging the conference at the local level, and will act as co-host with the CMI.

The major port of Vancouver, one of the world’s leading grain terminals and Canada’s main western terminus for rail, road and sea, is a fitting and beautiful location for the CMI to conduct its business. Surrounded by water on three sides and with the coastal range of the Rocky Mountains rarely out of sight, the venue exudes peace and serenity. Just the tone for an international conference.

The 38th CMI Conference (May 31 to June 4, 2004) will deal with a number of major issues, including transport law (the CMI/UNCITRAL Draft Instrument), general average (revision of the York-Antwerp Rules 1994), maritime security (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, suppression of unlawful acts and criminal acts on the high seas), pollution of the marine environment (proposed revision to the CLC & Fund Conventions), marine insurance, and places of refuge for ships in distress. It will also discuss the Athens Protocol (bareboat-chartered vessels) and the implementation of the Salvage Convention 1989. We are delighted to have a format and recognised speakers which will encourage debate, stimulate thought and provide creative solutions.

The conference will be held at the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina in downtown Vancouver beside the beautiful gardens and forests of Stanley Park. Full details of the conference, topics and speakers, including the varied social programme (which boasts a conference cruise), can be found at www.cmi2004.org

For American visitors, attendance at the conference will lead to Continuing Legal Education credits. After the conference, why not take a cruise to Alaska or do the Rocky Mountain rail tour?

The chief CMLA organiser of the conference is Michael Bird of Bull, Housser & Tupper. He has put together an able team, which has been working hard since early 2003 to ensure that the conference is second to none. The conference will be opened by The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin PC, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and a number of domestic and foreign judges and dignitaries will also be in attendance. Indications to date confirm that the conference will be well attended with participants, registrants and their guests from all parts of the world, and all areas of the maritime law market. For further information contact Michael Bird at (604) 641-4970 or at mjb...@bht.com or the office of the president of the CMLA on tel. (514) 397 3135 or pcul...@stikeman.com.

The CMLA was formed in 1951 with a mandate to advance the development of effective, modern, commercial maritime laws within Canada and the international shipping community. Through its active members, subcommittees and directors, it has been involved with the CMI, IMO and other national maritime law associations in the preparation of numerous international conventions. Recently, it has dealt with issues pertaining to wreck removal, coastal security and underwater cultural heritage, in addition to the matters which will be addressed at the Vancouver conference.

On November 6, 2003, Canada at long last ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The CMLA had long been a supporter of this convention and had pressed the Canadian government for its ratification for many years. Due to foreign over-fishing, particularly on Canada’s eastern coast, and the lack of an effective enforcement regime, Canada had delayed such ratification. With the recent enactment of legislation dealing with enforcement, including issues pertaining to straddling stocks, Canada was free to ratify.

Following a meeting of its directors on January 19,2004, in Halifax, NS, the CMLA held a successful open meeting for members and guests with speakers on matters of current interest including Canadian ship suppliers’ liens, international places of refuge and current levels of fines for marine pollution incidents. On April 2, 2004, the CMLA directors held their annual meeting in Ottawa with representatives of the Federal Department of Transport and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Among the items discussed were revisions to the Canada Shipping Act 2001 (regulatory process update) and the forthcoming reorganisation (in part) of the Canadian coast guard. The impact on Canadian ports and the Canadian shipping industry as a result of the far-reaching US Maritime Transportation Security Act was also discussed, in light of its trans-border implications, as were recent SOLAS amendments. The effect of Canada’s ratification of UNCLOS was also reviewed.

Together with McGill University’s Faculty of Law and the Association of Maritime Arbitrators of Canada, the CMLA sponsored a day-long programme, ‘Chartering Misconceptions or: How to Blow Your P & I Cover’, in Montreal on April 14, 2004. The topics included bills of lading and letters of indemnity, how to draft a general arbitration clause, and common misconceptions.

The CMLA will hold its annual general meeting in Vancouver on May 30, 2004, prior to the Vancouver conference. A further meeting of the directors is planned for Montreal on October 4, 2004, and on November 5, 2004, the CMLA will conduct a day-long seminar in Ottawa for judges of the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. This will be the fifth such seminar in the past ten years which the CMLA has organised at the invitation of the court.

Typically, the topics focus on the application of common law doctrines particular to maritime law, marine insurance, procedure, the role of the CMI, IMO, UNCITRAL, etc, and the formation and implementation of international conventions. Increasingly, such conventions are raised before the courts.

Which brings us back to Vancouver. The international community needs to continue to focus on transport law, maritime security, pollution, places of refuge and general average, and to develop the law on such matters. Given the implications of these important subjects (humanitarian, safety, environmental, trans-border, political and financial, to name but a few), wide participation, focused debate and constructive thinking are required. So are peace and serenity. That’s why you need to be in Vancouver at the CMI’s 38th Conference.