Article by Francesco Berlingieri
In 1896, the first Maritime Law Association was formed in Belgium following the initiative of a young lawyer, Louis Franck, and an eminent insurer, Charles Le Jeune, and with the support of the Prime Minister of Belgium, Auguste Beernaert. The object of the newly-born Association was to unify maritime law. From the outset, this was considered an aim which should be achieved jointly by maritime lawyers together with average adjusters and representatives of all branches of maritime industry: shipowners, shippers, underwriters, bankers, ship and chartering brokers, shipbuilders, and the like. In the following years, similar maritime law associations were formed in France (1897), Germany (1898), Denmark, Italy, Norway, and the United States (1899), Sweden (1900), and Japan (1901). The first two maritime law associations decided on the formation of a supernational organization and thus created, in 1897, the Comitè Maritime International (CMI). From its inception, the CMI's object was unification of maritime law, customs, usages, and practices. The other national associations immediately joined the CMI, which, in 1901, had nine member associations.
The first international conference of the CMI was held in Brussels in 1897. The subjects on the agenda were collision at sea and limitation of shipowners' liability. There followed conferences held in Antwerp in 1898 and in London in 1899 on the same subjects, in Paris in 1900 on the subjects of salvage and jurisdiction in collision matters, and in Hamburg in 1902 on the subjects of collision and mortgages and liens. Thus, in the first six years of the life of the CMI, a relevant number of important subjects on which uniformity was highly desirable had already been considered.
About the Author
Francesco Berlingieri. Professor of Maritime Law, University of Genoa. President of Comitè Maritime International.
Citation
57 Tul. L. Rev. 1260 (1983)