President of the Comité Maritime International to give William Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law

 Tulane Law’s endowed lecture focused on maritime law, the William Tetley Lecture, will be held January 28th at 5 p.m. and will explore the latest pressing issues affecting shipping operations throughout the world. 

This year’s Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law will be given by Ann Fenech, President of the Comité Maritime International, which is the international association of national maritime law associations. Fenech also heads the maritime litigation department of the Maltese law firm Fenech & Fenech Advocates and a past President of the Malta Maritime Law Association. 

Fenech has significant experience handling a wide range of disputes, from shipbuilding contracts to immediate casualty response, representing leading international maritime operators. She has played a key role in many major casualties involving Maltese-registered vessels globally, as well as those occurring in Maltese territorial waters. 

She works extensively in judicial sales, having overseen numerous auctions and court-approved private sales. Additionally, Fenech has a strong background in marine-related transactional work, including acting on behalf of the Malta Privatization Unit during the privatization process of the former Malta Drydocks. 

The Comité Maritime International (CMI) has long been a major contributor to the international uniformity of maritime law, and Fenech, as president of the CMI, will focus her lecture on precisely that; her lecture is titled “The Role of the CMI in the Unification of International Maritime Law.” 

CMI is the international association of national maritime law associations. It was founded in 1896 “with the object of contributing to the unification of maritime and commercial law, maritime customs, usages and practices.” 

 It has always played an important role in promoting the uniformity of maritime law throughout the world, an obviously desirable goal given the international nature of the shipping industry.  

In 1999, the Tulane Maritime Law Center established the William Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law in honor of the late Professor William Tetley, a Professor at McGill Law School in Montreal. The Lecture was later endowed by a gift from Bill Tetley himself and continues to operate under the direction of the Maritime Law Center.