SCRUTTON ON CHARTERPARTIES AND BILLS OF LADING(24th Edition). David Foxton QC and others. Sweet & Maxwell, London (2019) clxx and 519 pp, plus 106 pp Appendices and 32 pp Index. Hardback £365.

The obvious question to ask of a new edition of a book, particularly of one that has a long pedigree, is what’s new? For a book as familiar as Scrutton, the best answer is probably: not much. The book has a particular niche, being the best succinct book on the whole law of carriage of goods by sea (in its broad and familiar sense), albeit (fortunately) retaining its slightly idiosyncratic title. A standard work of reference provides guidance for the application and evolution of the relevant law; it should not, and cannot, prevent change. The particular value of Scrutton is that it absorbs such changes into its traditional pattern, though not without consciousness of the tension between that pattern and challenges to it, best illustrated in this edition in dealing with Volcafe Ltd v Compania Sud Americana de Vapores SA [2018] UKSC 61; [2019] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 21; [2019] AC 358. With this edition, Sir Bernard Eder has stepped down from the general editorship in favour of Sir David Foxton (as he now is) and the team is also joined by David Walsh.

COMMERCIAL MARITIME LAW. Edited by Melis Özdel, Lecturer in Law, University College London. Hart, Oxford (2019) xxviii and 187 pp, plus 10 pp Index. Hardback £70.

This book collects papers from a conference on the theme of the divergence between common law and civil law approaches to commercial maritime law and the extent to which they may be harmonised. It includes papers by Professor Martin Davies (“Cross-border Insolvency and Admiralty: A Middle Path of Reciprocal Comity”); Lawrence Teh (“Singapore: Common Law Relevance in a Civil Law Asia”): Sir Bernard Rix (“The Common Law and Civil Law Traditions of Contract Interpretation in the Context of Maritime Law”); Professor Dr Dieter Schwampe (“Actual Carriers in Civil Law—The German Example”); Professor Francis Reynolds (“Actual Carriers in Common Law”); Professor Marc Huybrechts (“Suing the Master of a Vessel Qualitate Qua in Continental Law: Two Remedies Achieving the Same Result”); Stephen Cogley QC (“The Res Cogitans”); Peter Macdonald Eggers QC (“Marine Insurance and the Duty of Disclosure: Common Law and Civil Law Perspectives”); and Melis Özdel (“The Doctrine of Res Judicata in Commercial Maritime Arbitration”).

THE ARREST CONVENTIONS: International Enforcement of Maritime Claims. Edited by Paul Myburgh, Associate Professor of Law, National University of Singapore. Hart, Oxford (2019) xlvi and 320 pp, plus 17 pp Index. Hardback £85.50.

Arrest of property which is the subject of, or connected with, claims is a peculiarity of maritime law and, being concerned with mobile property, is of especial interest where different jurisdictions are involved. Like most of maritime law, it is the subject of international harmonisation movements and, likewise, contains obstacles that impede those goals. In particular, the Arrest Convention of 1952 has been largely successful, while the Arrest Convention of 1999 has been largely unsuccessful. Both Conventions contain