Chapter 3 English Law and Practice

3.1 It was famously said by MacKinnon LJ that, “The truth is that this law of marine insurance is nothing more than a collection of rules for the construction of the ancient form of policy”. ² It has been a long tradition in works on marine insurance to describe the law and practice in the context of standard policy wordings, ³ such as the Institute Cargo Clauses (A), ⁴ which are widely used in England and Japan as well as in some of the other common law jurisdictions considered in this book. ⁵ This chapter, in accordance with this traditional approach, concentrates on the application of English law rules to the construction of these standard clauses. Before analysing the clauses, there are, however, a number of preliminary legal issues that go to the formation of a valid contract of marine insurance, starting with the assured's duty to disclose all material facts and not to misrepresent the risk. ⁶ After examining these rules, there is a consideration of the formalities that apply to marine insurance contracts as required by the Marine Insurance Act 1906, including the requirement for an insurable interest. ⁷ There follows a brief description of open covers, policies and certificates of insurance, ⁸ before examining warranties, exclusions and other conditions. ⁹ The English rules of causation are explained in the context of exclusions and the special English rules relating to warranties. ¹⁰