Marine Insurance

Starting from a historical background of marine insurance law, the Article discusses several areas where “uniformity is impaired or threatened” or the law “seem confused, obscure of fluid.” The areas selected for particular discussion are: choice of law, warranties and conditions, utmost good faith in disclosures, extra-contractual damages, and causation. The Article points out disuniformities and discusses their causes and the prospects for cure. Special emphasis is placed on the problems presented by the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Wilburn Boat Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., which announced a departure in marine insurance cases from the traditional admiralty practice of applying admiralty law in admiralty cases. Suggestions are advanced for the mitigation of the “mischief” that case has spawned.

Collision Law During the Last Quarter-Century of the Millenium

While radar, ARPA, and other technological developments, together with better training of ship's officers in their use, have substantially reduced the frequency of collisions and strandings, they have by no means eliminated them. Navigation has been simplified to some extent by the adoption of two major codifications: (1) The International Regulations of Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), the first thorough revision since the International Rules were formulated at the Washington Conference of 1889, and (2) the Inland Navigation Rules, effective throughout the United States in place of the old Inland, Great Lakes, and Western Rivers Rules. The United States law in both-to-blame cases has been brought into closer harmony with that of the other maritime countries by adoption of the proportional fault rule in United States v. Reliable Transfer Co., perhaps the most significant decision in the area ever rendered by the United States Supreme Court.

Collision Law in the Next Millenium

The Article predicts--based on present trends--what maritime transport may be like in the year 2025. Larger vessels will speed across the oceans, but their increased electronic wizardry will not bring an end to the recurring nightmare of collisions in crowded seas. The IMO may achieve near dictatorial powers to regulate vessel navigation and control pollution of the air and sea. In many ways vessels operations may resemble those traditional for aircraft, while expectations of privacy no longer exist. Human error can still be counted on to produce careless decisions that cause damage to one great ship and the total loss of another, with accompanying personal injuries and cargo damage.  

Professionalism: Charting a Different Course for the New Millenium

Professionalism is a lofty ideal to which all lawyers should aspire. It includes the elements of ethics and integrity, competence combined with independence, meaningful continuing learning, civility, obligations to the justice system and pro bono service. In today's hectic practice of law, it is difficult to fulfill the dictates of professionalism that must therefore be strenuously reinforced in us all. The effort should start in law school and continue with the work of the organized bar and professional associations with the encouragement of the courts. Through a concerted effort by each of these institutions, the public's confidence in the legal profession and our own enjoyment of the practice will be restored. The Law in the 50s, it was a calling; in the 70s, it was a profession; in the 80s, it became a business; and if we do not watch out by 2000, it will be a racket. Celia Johnstone, President Canadian Bar Association August 1992  

Uniformity of Maritime Law--An International Perspective

Starting with an analysis of the importance of uniformity, this Article gives a brief history of the search for uniformity and examines the role of the various governmental and nongovernmental bodies, which have been involved over the years. Consideration is given to the range of instruments by which uniformity may best be achieved; the Article also explains the difference between public law and private law conventions. The current issues under consideration by the IMO Legal Committee and the CMI are discussed and the problems of implementation are examined. Rationalization of the many conventions into a single third-party liability convention is considered and rejected and the treaty obligations of those states which ratify a convention are explained.

The Law of Towage at the Millennium: What Changes are Needed?

The law of towage dates from the first half of the nineteenth century, when the development of steam power permitted the first self-propelled tug boats. But modern towage law is largely defined by three United States Supreme Court decisions handed down in the first half of the Twentieth Century: Sacramento Navigation Co. v. Salz (1927), which created the “flotilla rule” to determine when the value of a towed vessel should be included in a limitation of liability fund; Stevens v. The White City (1932), which held that the tug is not the bailee of the tow; and Bisso v. Inland Waterways Corp. (1955), which held that exculpatory clauses in towage contracts are void and unenforceable. A fourth Supreme Court case, Ryan v. Pan-Atlantic Corp. (1956), although not a towage case, has led some courts to engraft a warranty of workmanlike performance or service onto towage contracts. This Article examines and criticizes these four doctrines, and is intended to provoke a lively debate on how towage law in these areas could be improved in the next millennium.