Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
EDITORIAL
This issue of the Quarterly appears on its twentieth anniversary. Much has happened in the intervening years. Twenty years ago, Lloyd’s of London Press was generally known for Lloyd’s List, Lloyd’s Law Reports and professional conferences on maritime law. Early issues of the Quarterly reflected the aim of informing businessmen and lawyers involved with the law and practice of international trade. They contained a range of material, including not only articles, but reproduced original sources such as the York-Antwerp Rules 1974 and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, summaries of cases from Lloyd’s Reports, notes of international legal developments and the odd book review. More than anything there was created the opportunity to publish on maritime and international trade law. This has affected the composition—and length—of the Quarterly. An increasing flow of thoroughly researched and rigorously considered material, not only in the Quarterly’s traditional areas of interest but also in associated specific and more broadly principled areas of commercial law, has come to dominate and, we believe, to make this the leading international commercial law journal.
Our aims remain ambitious. We still seek to inform. But we do not limit ourselves simply to presenting brief outlines of developments. The Quarterly seeks to encourage original and rigorous consideration of all aspects of maritime and commercial law from all parts of the world. In this, we hope to reflect the spirit which gave the British merchant marine such pre-eminence and which is continued in the outstanding reputation of English courts, arbitrators, lawyers, insurers, bankers and other practitioners.
That reputation is recalled by other notable anniversaries. This year is the centenary of the first introduction of what was to become the Marine Insurance Act 1906, and of the passing of the codifying Sale of Goods Act 1893 and the much copied and amended Merchant Shipping Act 1894. The subsequent practical history of such legislation has emphasized the international character of maritime and commercial law. In particular, the merchant shipping legislation has required continual revision in reaction to a growing number of international Conventions. At the time of writing, a Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Pollution) Bill is paving the way for further such implementation. It further reinforces the necessity for the long overdue consolidation of the Merchant Shipping Acts. This Quarterly endeavours to contribute to efforts to make the purposes and practices of the law more intelligible to those affected by it. So should the form in which the law itself is cast. The 1894 Act has done well to survive so far. A restatement has been a long time coming. It would be a fitting tribute to this anniversary if at last it came, so to prepare the way for future progress.
F.D. Rose
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