The roots of the Maritime Law Association of Slovenia (MLAS) go back to the time prior to Slovenia’s achievement of independence in 1991, when our present members were active in the Koper and Ljubljana sections of the Yugoslav Maritime Law Association. The “independent” Maritime Law Association of Slovenia (MLAS) was founded on the 16th January 1992, only one after the official recognition of the Republic of Slovenia from the international community. At the end of the year 1993, the MLAS became a member of the CMI.
MLAS representatives regularly participate in meetings and conferences of CMI, they fill in questionnaires of various fields and actively co-operate in other forms in the work of CMI.
At the time of its establishment, the Association had 20 regular members. To date the number of members has reached nearly 90. The Association includes members of different professions, while it is increasingly attracting young members.
In the General Meetings of the Association, some internationally reputed experts in the field of maritime affairs and maritime law were awarded with the title of honorary member of MLAS. Those experts are (so far) : Prof. William Tetley, Q.C. (McGill), Geoffrey A. Topp (EMPA), Đorđe Ivković, Prof. Dr. Predrag Stanković (deceased) and Prof. Dr. David J. Attard (IMO IMLI).
In addition, on the proposal of the MLAS General Meeting, CMI appointed the following Slovenian Titulary Members: Prof. Dr. Marko Ilešič, Đorđe Ivković, Anton Kariž;, Prof. Dr. Marko Pavliha, Andrej Pirš and Josip Rugelj.
The main goals of MLAS are to study maritime law, to promote its development and reputation, to co-operate with government bodies in preparing and adopting marine-related legislation, to facilitate international unification of law, to promote the harmonisation of Slovenian legislation with acquis communautaire (the EU law) as well as to offer assistance and consulting services on maritime law to individuals and companies (Article 5 of the Articles of MLAS).
The Association advances its objectives by organising conferences and (round-table) discussions by participating in meetings of CMI as well as by investigating and drafting proposals for international agreements and domestic regulations (Article 6 of the Articles of Association). In its first “independent” period, the Association addressed an open letter to the government, drawing attention to the government’s careless attitude towards the role of maritime affairs in Slovenia; it organised a round-table discussion on the Hamburg Rules and actively co-operated in the preparation of the new Maritime Code. In addition, it was admitted to the Federation of Lawyers’ Associations of Slovenia.
4. ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSIONS AND OTHER IMPORTANT MEETINGS
The Association organised the following round-table discussions.
the Hamburg Rules;
the new Slovenian Maritime Code;
marine claims and arrest of ships;
ship register;
maritime pilotage (visit of Mr Topp, Chairman of the European Maritime Pilot Association);
stevedoring services;
maritime liens and conflict of laws (visit of Prof. Tetley);
novelties in transport insurance;
presentation of Andrej Pirš's book on transport insurance;
experience of Croatian colleagues on the modification of their Maritime Code;
presentation of two books written by Prof. Dr. Marko Pavliha on transport law and insurance law;
lecture on the maritime boundary dividing the Bay of Piran, and Slovenia's access to the high sea;
Special General Meeting called at the occasion of the visit of Prof. Dr. Attard to Slovenia.
5. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF SPONSORS AND DONORS
The Association acquired some financial means through organising the following round-table discussions and conferences:
round-table discussion on bills of lading for the Union of Maritime Transport Agencies of Slovenia ;
lecture on the stevedoring contract for the Union of Maritime Transport Agencies of Slovenia;
one-day course on the new Maritime Code organised for the Port of Koper;
one-day course on the EU maritime law organised for the Port of Koper.
Especially the following should be mentioned:
drawing the attention of the Slovenian Government to the neglected role of maritime affairs in Slovenia;
participating in drafting of the Maritime Code;
co-operating with the Department of Maritime and Transport Law at the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport (all members of the Department are active members of the Association);
co-operation with the Federation of Lawyers' Association of Slovenia (the President of the MLAS has been re-elected as member of the Executive Council);
co-operation with the Ljubljana Lawyers' Association;
co-operation with the Lawyers' Association of the Costal region and Karst region;
co-operation with the Croatian Maritime Law Association (the President is member of the association);
designing of the Association’s website.
It also needs to be mentioned that the Association does not neglect social life. This is demonstrated by the traditional fish picnic and other entertaining (mostly culinary) events.
MLAS will continue to organise round-table discussions on various current maritime law issues and actively co-operate with the CMI. We shall continue to be watchful that the government, which to our mind has a too centralistic and continental orientation, follows the Resolution on the Maritime Orientation of the Republic of Slovenia adopted in 1991, which has often been just a dead letter. Among other things, we wish to strengthen our co-operation with other related associations, especially with Croatian and Italian ones. We would also like to assist in establishing associations in developing countries. We need to broaden our membership base and acquire more financial means, which are vital for the successful operation of the Association. Finally, we hope that more and more members will be willing to actively participate in our maritime law ventures.
Prof. Marko Pavliha & Mitja Grbec
