17th maritime seminar for judges in perspective

By Martins Nwamadi

MARITIME law, also known as admiralty law, is a body of laws, conventions and treaties that govern private maritime business and other nautical matters, such as shipping or offences accruing on open water.  Maritime laws also govern many of the Insurance claims relating to ships and cargo, civil matters between ship owners, seamen, passengers and piracy. Also, maritime law regulates registration, license and inspection procedures for ships and shipping contracts, maritime Insurance and the carriage of goods and passengers. The maritime sector is very strategic to the growth of any economy as it is the engine that drives and stimulates the economy while facilitating trade amongst nations. What is today known as International Maritime Seminar for Judges was conceived by the management of the Nigerian Shippers Council in the mid 1990s. This was as a result of deluge of complaints to the Council by Shippers on the challenges encountered in the pursuit of their claims recoveries and legal remedies. Also of significant importance was the input of a notable maritime lawyer in Nigeria to the management of the council on the need to provide a platform through which the knowledge of the Judges of superior courts of Nigeria would be updated on the subject of maritime law. Also, data derived from handling Shippers Complaints between Nigerian importers/exporters and shipping and port service providers showed that most maritime disputes/marine cargo claims which end up before the Federal High Court, the court of first instance in admiralty matters in Nigeria takes a lengthy period of time to get resolved.

According to Barr Emeka Okereke, a maritime lawyer based in Lagos is of the view that it took a long time to resolve maritime disputes due to the fact that most judicial officers before whom these maritime claims/disputes came for adjudication,were not very conversant with Admiralty and maritime law as a subject.  In light of the above, the management of the Nigerian Shippers Council under the headship of Dr Kingsley Usoh approached the National Judicial Institute (NJI) to partner with it in providing the platform towards updating the knowledge of the Judges/Justices of superior courts of record in Nigeria on maritime law. “In fact, the collaboration between the Nigerian Shippers Council and the National Judicial Institute totally transformed the vision of the then NSC management to a reality “, Okereke stated. Reinforcing the above perspective on the need to have an intellectual platform where critical issues on maritime law are discussed, an internationally acclaimed jurist late Hon.Justice Dahiru Musdapher, former Chief Justice of Nigeria stated that “Maritime law undoubtedly is a complex and highly specialised yet commercially important area of the law particularly in our rapidly globalising world. It is therefore imperative to regularly organize seminars and others of this nature on a sustained basis for judicial officers, maritime law practitioners and other stakeholders in the maritime industry. “

The first Maritime Seminar for Judges was held at the then NICON Hilton Hotel Abuja from the 3rd to the 5th of December 1995. The basic objective of the seminar series is to equip and strengthen the capacity of our judges and justices of superior courts of record namely the Federal and state high courts, the court of Appeal and the Supreme court as well as relevant stakeholders in the maritime industry with contemporary knowledge of the complex and dynamic subject of Admiralty law and practice, as well as the ever challenging dynamics of international trade as it affects the administration of Admiralty cases in Nigeria.  As Nigeria’s international trade experienced significant growth, more maritime cases, especially in the area of shipping, came before the courts for adjudication. The fact that most of the Judges of the superior courts of record were not taught maritime law in school made it difficult for the judges to cope with the ever-increasing complex and dynamic maritime law cases brought before them for adjudication. In her opening address at the 2022 seminar series, the honourable Minister of State for Transportation Hajiya Gbemisola Saraki commended Nigerian Shippers Council for creating an intellectual platform for maritime law discourse. According to her, this seminar has created a veritable forum where prominent jurists and legal luminaries come together to rub minds on how to enhance competitiveness and economic viability of our maritime industry, not only through the capacity building of the judicial officers but indeed also tackling some of the crucial issues on the front burner of maritime discourse both locally and globally.  This will no doubt increase the confidence of investors in the industry since it is obvious that an efficient, lucid, predictable and stable legal system plays a very significant role in attracting investors,” she noted.

Commenting on the achievements of the seminar series, Barrister Hassan Bello, a maritime expert, former Executive Secretary/CEO Nigerian Shippers Council who was there from conception to maturity opined that the seminar has achieved quite a lot in the Nigerian Maritime Industry. It has created a forum for robust discussion, debate and cross-fertilisation of ideas on significant maritime issues between participants drawn from different parts of the world.  Most importantly, the seminar has contributed towards the reduction of time within which maritime cases are disposed of by the courts. This has resulted in huge savings for Nigerian business community. The efficient and expeditious adjudication of cases has the effect of facilitating trade and attracting foreign investors into our maritime domain.

In addition, the seminar has helped in the development of maritime law in Nigeria.

The enactment of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN)Act 2007 and the domestication of the Hamburg Rules (United Nation’s Convention on Carriage of Goods by sea 1978), the review of Merchant Shipping Act are examples of Laws made pursuant to resolutions reached at the seminar, Bello added.

Corroborating to Bello’s string of achievements from the seminar series,Dr Chika Akabogu,another cerebral  maritime lawyer said “there is no doubt that the IMSJ has considerably increased the consciousness of Admiralty law amongst the esteemed members of the bench.”Some areas are of continuity and routine relevance and have been severally covered by the IMSJ including ship arrest, release under Admiralty actions in rem, carriage of goods by Sea and its incidents, maritime Insurance and the recurring issue of scope of the Admiralty jurisdiction.

Akabogu continues that since the commencement of IMSJ series, there has also been increased level of awareness of the importance of speed in the resolution of Admiralty disputes, particularly at the Federal High Courts. In fact, important legislative enactments have also been birthed arising from advocacy originating from or driven by the IMSJ.

“The most telling impact is the body of literature on maritime law which has been developed by the IMSJ. It is on credit of the IMSJ that resource persons have been encouraged to put in effort into research for presentation at the seminars, resulting in papers of considerable high quality. “The compilation of many papers into wholesome, composite volumes constitute a treasure trove of academic and practical resources for Admiralty law. In fact the ease of reference and study the seminar series has helped to raise the intellectual standard of our Admiralty law, Akabogu revealed.

The 17th Edition which commences from Tuesday, July 9 to Thursday, July 11 at Abuja promises to be more engaging and illuminating.

Revealing some part of unique features in the offing, the Director Legal Services, Nigerian Shippers Council, Barrister Bala Saleh said that quite array of issues selected for discussion, well-tailored to meet the needs of the industry and stakeholders are all embedded in the menu.

According to Saleh, the Chairman of the Planning Committee, a profound and cerebral jurist, Chief Judge of Federal High Court Abuja Justice John Tsoho has invited resource persons from within and outside the country in line with the international status of the seminar.

Hear Saleh, ”One indirect achievement of the seminar is that of boosting the nation’s image and that we hold tenaciously on our chest while the planning and execution are on.”

The three days we are going on a voyage are a magnum opus for the NSC.

• Nwamadi writes in from Lagos

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