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“- is there more to a contract than meets the eye” webinar

Posted on Monday, April 12, 2021

The Hong Kong Branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and the London Maritime Arbitrators Association recently organised a very interesting and immensely useful webinar title "- is there more to a contract than meets the eye", on the 8th April 2021.

 

The webinar considered when and in which ways terms may be implied into shipping contracts and "The principles of implied terms under English law".

 

The panellists addressed the legal aspects of cases implying terms in shipping contracts context which among others, included a discussion on the Union Power and Res Cogitans. The implications of such decisions in a broader sense for various maritime contracts and resulting changes, if any, made to the existing standard forms.

 

The webinar also sought to answer "do commercial practitioners need to know and appreciate the obligations flowing from the implied terms" and thus the parties may consider contracting in or out of such implied terms to the extent that such exclusion can legally be made.

 

Some of the best legal and commercial minds of the fascinating maritime industry discussed, amongst others, following-

 

- Is there any significant difference between what we might now call the "modern law" on implied terms and the established test of "necessity"?

 

- Can we engage with an argument as to an implied term without first engaging with arguments as to contractual construction or interpretation?

 

- Is the practical understanding about Implied Terms in commercial/chartering teams and, what are the cost impacts of not having this understanding?

 

- Considering the practitioners agreeing to shipping contracts without often having the Sale of Goods Act in front of their mind, what can we learn from the Union Power and Res Cogitans litigation, and how critical is that piece of learning?

 

- What would have prevented the terms of SOGA from being implied into the Union Power case?

 

- Are the implied terms often pleaded by the parties in practice? And, would you say that arbitrators tend to view implied terms as a plea of desperation?

 

And many more!

 

If you missed the Webinar, you may like to benefit from the recording of the webinar by clicking on the link below.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p3njrMFOk3Z_ccI_vZAzdK91ezFQ0fm9/view

 

The Moderator & the Panellists:

 

A brief introduction

 

Moderator: Jagmeet Makkar

 

A unique combination of academic prowess and experience in commercial, technical, dispute resolution and senior management roles defines Jagmeet's career.

 

With about 40 years of practical and diverse hands-on knowledgebase, Jagmeet conducts learning and development sessions for all levels of shipping professionals including universities.

 

He is a maritime arbitrator with expertise in charterparties, bills of lading, ship building & repair.

 

He is the Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Hong Kong and that of the Maritime & Logistics Committee of the Hong Kong Centre of International Commercial Arbitration.

Jagmeet was recently elected to the Committee of WISTA Hong Kong.

 

Panellist: Clive Aston

Clive Aston studied law at Cambridge and was called to the Bar in 1979. He then spent 9 years at a leading P&I Club, including 5 years managing the FD&D class of cover and Greek P& I syndicate.

 

In 1988 he started his own consultancy practice and began accepting appointments as an arbitrator, becoming a full member of the LMAA shortly afterwards. As an arbitrator he has dealt with a wide range of shipping and shipping related disputes in several thousand cases.

 

Clive was President of the LMAA from 2014-2017. He is also a trained mediator and arbitrating member of the China Maritime Arbitration Commission, Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration.

 

Panellist: Elizabeth Sloane

Elizabeth is a lawyer qualified in Hong Kong, England and Australia and is a partner of Stephenson Harwood in Hong Kong.  She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators.

 

Elizabeth works across the maritime and international trade sectors in the Asia Pacific region.  She has substantial experience in shipping (both wet and dry), trade, fraud, and insolvency matters.  Elizabeth is ranked as a Next Generation Partner for Shipping by Legal500 Asia Pacific.

 

Panellist: Arthur Bowring MH

Arthur Bowring MH is an arbitrator and mediator, and a technical consultant.  Arthur has a broad shipping and commercial background and was Managing Director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association for almost 20 years.

 

He is a Full Member of the LMAA, and President and Full Member of the Hong Kong Maritime Arbitration Group.

 

Panellist: Punit Oza

Punit Oza is the Executive Director at Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration and has over 27 years of experience in Dry Bulk Shipping, holding senior management positions in Precious Shipping - Bangkok, Aries Shipbroking - Singapore, Astra Shipping - Dubai, Noble Chartering - Hong Kong, and Klaveness in Singapore.

 

He currently sits on the board of Klaveness Asia and is the Vice-Chairman of Singapore Branch of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Punit holds a Masters in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School, London and an LLB and Post Graduate Diploma in Maritime Law from University of London.

 

Panellist: Nevil Phillips

Nevil Phillips is a commercial barrister from Quadrant Chambers in London. He is a familiar and popular choice, both as counsel and as an arbitrator, well known globally and with particular experience here in Asia - having appeared as counsel in many arbitrations in Hong Kong and Singapore.

 

He is the author of one of the leading texts on the Merchant Shipping Act in the UK, and a popular writer and speaker on a variety of issues of commercial and shipping law, and in arbitration.

 

Having appeared as counsel in some of the leading shipping and commercial cases of recent years, he has been described as "A top QC without the badge - a terrier and the ideal add-on to any winning team." (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific)

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