Associate Member and Arbitrator
Registered European Lawyer with Bar of England and Wales (2004) (Middle Temple)
Advocate at the Bar in Malta (1978)
Formerly Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Southampton (to 2011)
Charles read Law at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (MA, 1983) (BA 1979) and in Malta (LLD 1977)
Profile
Charles Debattista specialises in all areas of dry shipping law and related aspects of international trade, including:
- Bills of Lading
- Charterparties
- International Sale Contracts, both of commodities and of goods
- Letters of Credit
- International Bank Guarantees
His work falls into five categories:
- He accepts appointments as an arbitrator, whether as party-appointed, chairman of tribunals, or sole Arbitrator.
- He takes instructions to represent parties as an advocate before arbitral tribunals.
- He takes instructions to give Opinions and advice on any of the above areas.
- Charles provides expert Opinions on English law for foreign courts, among which most recently courts in Switzerland, Panama and the USA.
- Charles has been heavily involved in the drafting of international trade rules, having chaired the drafting groups for Incoterms 2010 and 2000 and having been a consultee for the UCP600.
Arbitration
Charles has been arbitrating since 2002, under LMAA, ICC, GAFTA and FOSFA Rules; he also takes appointments in ad hoc references. Charles has recently become a member of the panel of arbitrators in the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration.
Since 2002, Charles has either decided or appeared in 150 references, ranging from small values to USD30m. He has had several of his Awards approved on reference up to the Courts, among which most recently:
- Soufflet Negoce v Bunge [2011] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 531 on the readiness of the vessel in fob sales.
- The Darya Radhe [2009] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 175 on dangerous goods in the carriage of goods by sea.
- Sanhe Hope v Toepfer [2008] 1 Lloyds Rep 458 on the measure of damages in sale contracts.
Examples of Recent Arbitrations:
As so much of Charles’s work is involved with confidential arbitrations, it is impossible to give party names as examples of recent work. Recent cases in which he has either arbitrated or represented parties include, however, disputes relating to the following:
- Performance of ship management and ship supply contracts.
- Whether a charterparty had been concluded.
- Duties regarding dangerous goods.
- The effect of a certificate final clause in a sale contract for the sale of a metal commodity.
- Liability for demurrage as between seller and buyer.
- The effect of force majeure clauses in sale contracts.
- The failure to open a letter of credit within the stipulated time.
Examples of Recent Opinions:
Recent Opinions have related to:
- The identity of the carrier in cargo claims.
- The effect of undated bills of lading.
- An insurance company’s title to sue a carrier under COGSA 1992.
- Fraud in letters of credit and bank guarantees.
- The duty of disclosure in insurance contracts.
- The effect of the FCA Incoterm on the transfer of risk.
- The effect of “certificate final” clauses in an international sale of bio-fuels.
- The effect of a “shipping tolerance” in an international sale of coal.
Publications:
Charles has written prolifically in his areas of expertise, concentrating in particular on the complex relationships between charterparties and bills of lading and the underlying contracts of sale and letters of credit. His writing has frequently been cited in courts in the UK and abroad, most recently in:
- AP Moller-Maersk v Sonaec Villas [2011] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 1 on straight bills of lading.
- The Mercini Lady [2009] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 679 on certificate final clauses.
- The Rafaela S [2005] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 347 on straight bills of lading.
- The Starsin [2003] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 371 on the identity of the carrier in cargo claims.
- Uco Bank v Golden Shore Transportation [2005] SGCA 42, Singapore Court of Appeals, on the endorsement of bills of lading.
Major publications include:
- Maritime Law, Sweet and Maxwell, 2011, co-author
- Transfer of Property in International Sales (ICC-Paris, 2010), co-author
- The Rotterdam Rules: A Practical Annotation, Informa 2009, co-author
- Bills of Lading in Export Trade, Tottel Publishing, third edition January 2009
- Halsbury’s Laws of England, vol 4, Carriage and Carriers; November 2008
- Halsbury’s Laws of England, vol 41, Sale of Goods and Supply of Services, 2005
- Halsbury’s Laws of England, vol. 43(2), Shipping and Navigation, 1997, with Hardy Ivamy