Lloyd's Shipping & Trade Law

This article summarises the most significant shipping cases heard by the courts of Hong Kong during 2019. By Edward Liu and Maggie Lee of Hill Dickinson Hong Kong.

Disembarkation in progress

The UK exited the European Union on 31 January 2020. As a result of the transition period in the Withdrawal Agreement, EU law will continue to apply in the UK only until 31 December 2020. EU law will then cease its application in the UK, and past EU regulations will continue to apply in domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as long as they are not repealed or modified by regulations under the 2018 Act.

Edward Liu and Maggie Lee consider the legal implications of Covid-19 on the performance of charterparties, especially the issues of force majeure and frustration, from the perspectives of English and Chinese law.