Dr Felicity G. Attard was invited by Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Professor of International Law at Queen Mary University of London to lecture to postgraduate students reading for their LL.M in International Law.
Prof. Fitzmaurice introduced Dr Attard as an internationally recognised expert on the legal obligations which the shipmaster has with respect to rendering assistance to persons in distress at sea. In her presentation, Dr Attard reviewed developments in international treaty law since the duty to render assistance at sea was codified in early maritime treaties at the beginning of the last century, including the 1910 International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Assistance and Salvage at Sea, the 1910 International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law with respect to Collisions between Vessels and the 1914 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
Despite decades of practice, the legal formulae adopted in these treaties formed the basis of the contemporary treaty regime regulating the duty as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and legal instruments adopted by the International Maritime Organization.
