ABSTRACT
Since the establishment of the CMI in 1897, unification of maritime law – in all its aspects, with related commercial practices – has been a foundational objective (art. 1 CMI Constitution), whatever hurdles it has to overcome. To that end, CMI has promoted the establishment of national associations of maritime law and co-operates with other international organizations (UNCTAD, IMO, UNIDROIT or UNCITRAL), these International Conventions being the cornerstone in this process. However, 120 years later, the results of those aspirations have been very.
Nowadays, there is no wide agreement on the methods of achieving uniformity (not all proposals for international unification, even those that are official, need involve a treaty regime). Significant sources of unification have come into existence, such as Rules, Model Laws, Standard Forms, Recommendations of Maritime Organizations or the lex mercatoria), but these do not often work together.
There are a number of advantages to the adoption of uniformity, but also many obstacles that have been present for decades (and still continue today). Many of the international Conventions have had few ratifications and very unequal success. Governments usually give their consent for the signing ceremony but do not ratify the Conventions later in order to enforce them (e.g. the Rotterdam Rules). Others, however, have enjoyed an unusual success (e.g. the Cape Town Convention).
