251 graduates in 13 years from International Maritime Law Institute

William A. O'Neil, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation, made the following address at the graduation ceremony of the IMO's International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), housed at the University of Malta, and held on May 18 at the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa.

Twenty-two students from 14 countries graduated, among them three Maltese lawyers - Nadia Scerri, Erika Vassallo and Lydia Zerafa. The director of IMLI is Professor David Attard.

The following is the text of Mr O'Neil's address:

It is a privilege for me to address the graduation ceremony for the class of 2002 of the IMO international Maritime Law Institute. This graduating class marks the 13th year of successful operation of the institute.

Since its inception in 1989, a total of 251 graduates from 91 countries have benefited from the programme of studies which is unique to this institution. Although you, the graduating class, are in the best position to judge the value of this experience, I hope you will agree that it has been a rare privilege to have had the opportunity to study, with colleagues from around the world, and obtain advanced training in the highly specialised field of international maritime law.

You will now return to your countries and positions in government and the industry to pursue your careers. Based on our previous experience, we expect that many of you will be in positions to directly or indirectly assist IMO in achieving its objectives of safer seas and cleaner oceans.

An international legal framework of IMO rules, codes and standards intended to meet the needs of the global maritime industry and governments as well as the concerns of civil society is now in place. But to be effective the next and essential step is for these rules and standards to be incorporated into national legislation and only qualified lawyers like yourselves who are equipped with the basic knowledge to translate global treaties into practical and enforceable national legislation can do this.

In recognising that specialist training and experience in maritime law was needed for this process to be effective, this institute was established 13 years ago specifically for that purpose. This was done under the auspices of the international maritime organisation with the generous co-operation of the government of Malta and owes its parentage to Dr Joe Fenech and Dr C.P. Srivastava, who negotiated the arrangements for locating IMLI here in Malta.

IMLI is unique in that it fosters excellence in the public sector in the drafting, adoption and review of national law and legislation in accordance with international legal instruments on maritime safety, marine environment protection and shipping and ports as well as the development of policies on national shipping and training.

The institute will continue to play an integral and indispensable part in advancing maritime law globally. In fact, its role in the international maritime legislative process will become more significant as the industry becomes increasingly regulation-oriented, especially in view of the events of last September.

The use of passenger aircraft as weapons in the attacks on the United States has also heightened concerns worldwide about the vulnerability of marine traffic to terrorist activities. Priority is now being given to the matter of enhanced maritime security through legislation both nationally and internationally. It is imperative that the industry should reach agreement on how to improve the capability of enforcement agencies at all levels to deal with potential maritime security issues and incidents.

In conjunction with this there is a need for the development and adoption of appropriate international agreements and also the expansion of training programmes on maritime security along with the introduction of sophisticated systems to help countries worldwide to combat these potential threats.

To this end, the 22nd session of the IMO assembly last November unanimously adopted a resolution calling for a review of measures and procedures to prevent acts of terrorism which threaten the security of passengers and crews and the safety of ships at sea and in ports.

And earlier this year, an IMO working group met in London to follow up on this resolution and to discuss issues such as the definition of ownership and control of ships within the context of maritime security, the installation of automatic identification systems aboard ships, security plans for ships and ports, seafarers' identification certificates, and the creation of secure chains of custody for containers from point of origin to destination.

IMO's legal committee which met last month considered the issue of transparency and exchange of information on ownership and control of ships seeking to enter port areas. Identifying the individual or group ownership of or effective control over a vessel may mean lifting the veil of anonymity on several layers of corporate or non-corporate entities across more than one jurisdiction.

After considerable discussion the legal committee decided that an examination of beneficial ownership and piercing the corporate veil was not necessarily the right way to go, given the legal complexities. It was suggested that a better course of action would be to identify who had operation control, which is now being accepted as the most appropriate approach to take on this issue.

IMO will also be elaborating further on the transparency aspects of operational management of ships in time for the diplomatic conference which will deal with amendments to the SOLAS conference and is planned for December. The legal committee has provided valuable information and guidance which will assist in developing a suitable and practical solution to this problem.

The legal committee also decided to look at revising the convention for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of maritime navigation, to include terrorist acts at sea and expand the types of criminal acts covered by the treaty.

These initiatives will assist in covering the urgent need for enhanced security measures evidenced by the events of September 11, representing part of a framework for the development of an appropriate maritime security regime.

In dealing with matters such as container security worldwide, or the suppression of terrorism in other countries' ports, there must be accepted rules and agreements covering how this will be done. In the whole process, IMLI is already playing an interactive role by focusing, in its course syllabus, on particular aspects of shipping law such as nationality, registration and ship ownership.

I turn now to this graduating class, which comprises 12 women and ten men and thereby, for the first time in the institute's history, has the number of women students exceeding that of men.

I would note that IMO and IMLI place great emphasis on the promotion of the integration of women in the maritime sector. IMLI is one of the first institutions in the UN system to reserve 50 per cent of the places on its annual course for qualified women candidates. That policy has been effective with the number of women students rising steadily over the last few years, culminating in a total of 90 women graduates from 49 countries worldwide.

I am sure that all graduates, including those we are honouring today, would join me in recording our appreciation for the ongoing financial support from donors who have contributed to the institute's general fund or donated fellowships and thereby made all of this possible.

In recognising the importance of IMLI, the last IMO assembly adopted a resolution, which reaffirmed the institute's significance and necessity as an instrument of IMO in dispensing advanced education and training in maritime law. The resolution acknowledged the contribution which IMLI graduates make to a safe, efficient and environmentally sound maritime industry and noted the rising demand for the specialised training programme offered by the institute.

It also accepted that the future development and progress of the institute would not be possible without continued generous financial support from its current donors and from new donors. It therefore urged all member states and the industry to pledge themselves to a more regular annual contribution in cash or kind for the institute's core operation and student fellowship funding. It also called upon them to use and support the IMLI programme and to back any initiatives for multi-lateral funding support.

I would also like to once again give special recognition and thanks to the Government of Malta for the consistent support it has given to IMO and to IMLI over the years.

The institute's success, which is now well recognised and confirmed, is due largely to the dedication and hard work of the students and graduates. It is also directly attributable to the high standard of teaching rendered by the IMLI professional staff and the cadre of visiting lecturers who give their services voluntarily. I would especially note the excellent leadership provided by Professor Attard with respect to both academic and administrative matters. To all of them and to the efficient administrative staff we extend our heartfelt thanks.

Finally, to you, the graduates of the 13th course, I wish you the very best for your future. I congratulate you on the attainment of the Master's Degree which is a professional distinction in recognition of your qualifications and competence in the field of maritime law.

I also look forward to some of you joining our ranks of junior consultants for technical co-operation assignments, so that the knowledge you have gained can be shared with other needy states and your expertise developed even further.