This year’s lecture will be given by Prof. Jason Chuah (Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law, City University London) on the topic of:
“Greening the Shipyards – a role for contractual devices”
The role of shipyards, as regards environmental protection, has seldom come under the scrutiny of legal commentators. The relevant literature has focused mainly on the shipyard’s health and safety duties and its liability for environmental damage to the port and surrounding areas. However, in the light IMO 2020 and ballast water management challenges to the industry, shipyards now are placed under some duty to ensure that sound environmental standards are adhered to in ship building, design and fitting. This paper looks at how environmental imperatives are facilitated by contractual and commercial devices. The paper questions how effective these measures are, drawing on English law, the applicable law of preference for many shipbuilding and refitting contracts. It will also consider how and to what extent back to back arrangements with participants in the longer (and global) supply chain should be structured, managed and legally facilitated. It argues for the development of “green” implied terms and usages to help fill gaps in the commercial relationships and reasons that there is a useful role for standards setting for transnational, non-legal institutions.
About the speaker
Professor Jason Chuah is Head of Department at The City Law School, City University of London and Guest Professor at the University of Gothenburg. He was a holder of three scholarships at the University of Cambridge and a Certificate in Export with Distinction from the Institute of Export. He chairs the London Universities Maritime Law and Policy Group. He has been involved in various consultations with the UK Government, the OECD, the ICC, the Association of British Insurers, the UNCITRAL, etc. and has published nine books and over 200 articles in academic and professional journals. His works have been cited by tribunals and institutions in the EU, US, UK and Asia.