[A] Fist convention of Comite Maritime International
[B] The convention having been revised three times
[C] Why is unification of maritime law necessary?
[D] The convention with the most signature states.
[E] Incompatible time scale
[F] The salvage convention
According to Constitution: "The Comite Maritime International (CMI) is a non-governmental international organization, the object of which is to contribute by all appropriate means and activities to the unification of maritime law in all its aspects. To this end it shall promote the establishment of national associations of maritime law and shall co-operate with other international organizations. "The CMI has been doing just that since 1897.
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In an address to the University of Turin in 1860, the Jurist Mancini said: "The sea with its winds, its storms and its dangers never changes and this demands a necessary uniformity of juridical regime." In other words, those involved in the world of maritime trade need to know that wherever they trade the applicable law will, by and large, be the same. Traditionally, uniformity is achieved by means of international conventions or other forms of agreement negotiated between governments and enforced domestically by those same governments.
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It is tempting to measure the success of a convention on a strictly numerical basis. If that is the proper criterion of success, one could say that one of the most successful conventions ever produced was the very first CMI convention—the Collision Convention of 1910. The terms of this convention were agreed on September 23, 1910 and the convention entered into force less than three years later, on March 1, 1913.
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Almost as successful, in numerical terms, is a convention of similar vintage, namely the Salvage Convention of 1910. Less than three years elapsed between agreement of the text at the Brussels Diplomatic Conference and entry into force on March 1, 1913. we are, quite properly, starting to see a number of denunciations of this convention, as countries adopt the new salvage Convention of 1989. It is worth recording that the Salvage Convention of 1989, designed to replace the 1910 Convention, did not enter into force until July 1996, more than seven years after agreement. The latest information available is that forty States have now ratified or acceded to the 1989 convention.
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The text of the first Limitation Convention was agreed at the Brussels Diplomatic Conference in August 1924, but did not enter into force until 1931-seven years after the text had been agreed. This convention was not widely supported, and eventually attracted only fifteen ratifications or accessions. The CMI had a second go at limitation with its 1957 Convention, the text of which was agreed in October of that year. It entered into force in May 1968 and has been ratified or acceded to by fifty-one states, though of course a number have subsequently denounced this convention in order to embrace the third CMI Limitation Convention, that of 1976. At the latest count the 76 Convention has been ratified or acceded to by thirty seven states. The fourth instrument on limitation, namely the 1996 Protocol, has not yet come into force, despite the passage of six years since the Diplomatic Conference at which the text of the was agreed.
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By almost any standard of measurement, the most successful maritime law convention of all time: the Civil Liability Convention of 1969. The text of that convention (to which the CMI contributed both in background research and drafting) was agreed at a Diplomatic Conference in 1969 and it entered into force six years later, in June 1975. The convention has, at various stages, been acceded to or ratified by 103 states (with two additional "provisional" ratifications). If we add to this the various states and dependencies that come in under the UK umbrella, we realize that we are looking at a hugely successful convention.
Conventions and other unifying instruments are born in adversity. An area of law may come under review because one or two states have been confronted by a maritime legal problem that has affected them directly. Those sponsoring states may well spend some time reviewing the problem and producing the first draft of an instrument. Eventually, this draft may be offered to the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) Legal Committee for inclusion in its work program. Over ensuing years (the Legal Committee meeting every sic months or so), issues presented by the draft will be debated, new issues will be raised, and the instrument will be endlessly re-drafted. At some stage, the view will be taken that the instrument is sufficiently mature to warrant a Diplomatic Conference at which the text will be finalized. If the instrument is approved at the Diplomatic Conference, it will sit for twelve months awaiting signature and then be open to ratification and accession. The instrument will contain an entry into force requirement, which will need to be satisfied.