CMI Newsletter - 12 October 2007

• Author: Stuart Hetherington
• Pages: 193-195

CMI Update – October 2007

CMI Newsletter

Stuart Hetherington

12 October 2007

The Executive Council last met on 10 May 2007 in Dubrovnik, at the time of the Symposium organised jointly

between the CMI and the Croatian MLA.

In relation to work in progress, the following reports were given to the Executive Council.

Transport Law - UNCITRAL Draft Instrument on the Carriage of Goods.

Francesco Berlingieri advised that the significant dates in relation to further work on this topic are as follows:

1. October 2007 – Working Group meeting in Vienna; final draft to all UN member states

2. June/July, 2008 – UNCITRAL Commission to approve

3. July 19-12, 2008 – UNCITRAL Congress to approve

4. November, 2008 – Formal adoption by UN General Assembly

5. Thereafter, open for ratification

6. Signing Ceremony of the Convention, combined with a Congress – probably September 2009.

Criminal acts committed on foreign flagships

This committee's title is now to be referred to as the Maritime Criminal Act Committee. Draft Guidelines have

been prepared, which cover the topic not only of piracy, but also the topic raised as a result of a Japanese

initiative concerning criminal acts committed on foreign flagships.

Wreck Removal

Shortly after the time the Executive Council Meeting was taking place in Dubrovnik, the diplomatic conference

on the Wreck Removal Convention was taking place in Kenya (the Convention was finalised at that conference).

Fair Treatment of Seafarers in the event of a marine accident

The Fair Treatment Guidelines which had been drafted by the IMO and the ILO, with CMI's assistance, had been

approved by the IMO on 27 April 2006 and the ILO on 12 June 2006, and came into effect on 26 June 2006. It

is clear that they need to be publicised in the international arena.

Other topics such as Places of Refuge and Procedural Rules in Limitation Conventions were discussed at

length during the symposium and will be referred to below.

Other discussion which took place at the Executive Council Meeting included the wide range of possible future

topics for CMI to work on, including:

1. Non-Technical Measures to Promote Quality Shipping

2. Classification Societies

3. Judicial Sale of Ships

4. Ship Construction and Environmental Problems Associated Therewith, and

5. Compulsory Pilotage

(2007) 21 A&NZ Mar LJ 193