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Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The law paper of the maritime series, following the coverage of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers' Legal Principles in Shipping Business syllabus. Eleven modules build the legal foundations of shipping — common law and precedent, contract, tort, agency, the voyage and time charters, the bill of lading, the international conventions on carriage, dispute resolution and arbitration, the great safety conventions, and general average. Led by the Lord Mansfield Simulacrum, the judge who built English commercial and maritime law, with the public-law conventions taught by the Samuel Plimsoll Simulacrum.
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
Why is a contract between a Greek owner and a Japanese charterer written to be governed by English law — and how does that law actually think? This module gives you the instrument before you use it: why English law dominates world shipping, the nature of common law built case upon case, the doctrine of precedent that makes outcomes predictable, the difference between common law and the codified civil law of much of the world, and the structure of the civil and criminal courts and what "choice of forum" means.
Outcome
You can explain why English law is chosen for shipping, reason in the common-law manner from facts to principle to precedent, and distinguish the courts and the meaning of forum. (The common-law foundation)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When does a fixture become a binding contract, and what happens when it breaks? This module dissects the contract: the essential ingredients of offer, acceptance, consideration, and legality; the precise moment a contract comes into existence in the fast world of fixing ships; how a contract is broken, and the difference between a breach that ends it and one that merely sounds in damages; and how voidability, force majeure, and frustration can excuse or discharge performance.
Outcome
You can say whether a binding contract was formed, whether it was broken, and what the law attaches to that breach. (Contract)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When a wrong arises with no contract between the parties, where does the law turn? This module covers the law of tort and its shipping applications: the precise nature of a tort; negligence and the duty of care, contributory negligence, misrepresentation, and vicarious liability; the tort of conversion, with its central instance of delivering cargo to the wrong party; and defamation, including the difference between libel and slander.
Outcome
You can recognise when a shipping problem sounds in tort, identify which tort, and reason about duty, breach, and liability. (Tort)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
How can a broker bind a principal he is contracting for — and when does he bind himself instead? This module covers the law of agency, the foundation of the broker's and port agent's existence: how an agency is created; the difference between general agency, specific agency, and agency of necessity; express and implied authority; the duties, rights, and remuneration of the agent; how the agent binds the principal to third parties; and the consequences for the agent of a breach of warranty of authority.
Outcome
You can say when the principal is bound, when the third party has a remedy, and when the broker has exposed himself personally. (Agency)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When has a ship "arrived," whose time is running, and who pays when the clock overruns? This module sets out the legal architecture of the voyage charter: how it differs from the contract of affreightment, the time charter, and the demise charter; the doctrine of the "arrived ship" and the law of laytime and demurrage; and the carrier's right to freight and the liens that secure it.
Outcome
You can categorise a charter, determine when laytime begins and runs, and explain how the owner secures payment. (Voyage charterparties)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When a charterer hires the ship herself by the day, what happens if she is too slow, burns too much fuel, or cannot work at all? This module covers the time charter: how it allocates possession, employment, and cost differently from a voyage charter; speed-and-consumption undertakings and the disputes they generate; the doctrine of off-hire; final-voyage disputes; and the owner's right to hire and his remedies for non-payment, including withdrawal of the vessel.
Outcome
You can say whether a vessel is off-hire, whether a performance warranty was broken, and what remedy the owner has for unpaid hire. (Time charterparties)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
How can one piece of paper be a receipt, the evidence of a contract, and a key that transfers ownership of goods at sea? This module examines the bill of lading as a legal instrument: its three functions stated with precision (and why it is evidence of the contract, not the contract itself); the principal customary clauses — identity of carrier, Himalaya, clause paramount; the difference between port-to-port, through, and combined-transport bills and the role of the waybill; and the negotiability and endorsement of the bill as a document of title under legislation such as COGSA 1992.
Outcome
You can read a bill of lading as a lawyer does — knowing which function is engaged, what each clause does, and whether the document must be produced to obtain delivery. (Bills of lading)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When a cargo is loaded under one nation's law and claimed under another's, what law governs the carrier's liability? This module covers the international framework for carriage of goods by sea: why it is needed; the distinction between private carriage under a charterparty and common carriage under a liner bill; and the rights, liabilities, exclusions, and limits under the Hague, Hague-Visby, and Hamburg Rules, the differences among them, the requirement of seaworthiness, and the multimodal-transport problem.
Outcome
You can place a cargo claim within the right convention, identify the carrier's duties and the available exclusions and limits, and explain what makes the choice of regime matter. (Law and the carriage of goods by sea)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
How long do you have to bring a claim, where should you bring it, and what can you actually recover? This module covers dispute resolution: statutes of limitation and time bars, and the difference between statutory or convention bars and contractual ones; the central role of arbitration and why shipping prefers it, including short-form arbitration and mediation and the main centres of London, New York, and Paris; arbitration weighed against litigation; and how losses are recovered in contract and against a tortfeasor.
Outcome
You can say whether a claim is still alive, where and how it should be pursued, and what may realistically be recovered. (Disputes and dispute resolution)
Sub-units
Led by Samuel Plimsoll Simulacrum
The question
What are the binding international rules on safety, pollution, and the competence of crews — and how do they come to bind a ship at all? Taught by Samuel Plimsoll, this module covers how international conventions are agreed, ratified, brought into force, and incorporated into national law; the impact of EU law; and the key elements and purposes of SOLAS (with the IMDG and ISM Codes), MARPOL, and STCW, together with Port State Control and the convention on the arrest of sea-going ships.
Outcome
You can name the convention that governs a given safety, pollution, training, or arrest matter and say what it requires. (International conventions)
Sub-units
Led by Lord Mansfield Simulacrum
The question
When cargo is thrown overboard to save a grounded ship, who pays for it? This module covers one of the oldest principles in maritime law: general average, the rule that a sacrifice made voluntarily and reasonably against a common peril must be shared by all the interests saved. You learn the nature of general average and the common peril that founds it, why the voluntary character of the sacrifice is essential and how it differs from accidental loss, and how ship, cargo, and freight contribute rateably to make good the loss.
Outcome
You can recognise a general-average act, explain why it qualifies, and say who must contribute and on what basis. (General average)
Sub-units