The roots of the Maritime Law Association of Slovenia (MLAS) go back to the time prior to Slovenia’s achievement of independence in 1991. Our present members were active in the Koper and Ljubljana sections of the Yugoslav Maritime Law Association.
Rezultati prevajanja In early December 1991, during his study stay in Canada, the current president of the association proposed to Anton Kariž, then head of the Maritime Law Society (Koper section of the former Yugoslav Society), to convene a meeting to discuss the potential membership of the future new Society in the International Maritime Committee (CMI). Only one after the official recognition of the Republic of Slovenia from the international community The “independent” Maritime Law Association of Slovenia (MLAS) was founded on the 16th January 1992. For president it was elected Mag. Gregor Velkaverh, and the executive committee also included prof. dr. Marko Ilešič, M.Sc. Andrej Pirš in Rasto Plesničar. The secretary of the association was Anton Kariž, the coordinator of the work of the association dr. Marko Pavliha, and Jože Možek, Lojze Peric and mag. Josip Rugelj.
The Association was established with the aim of studying maritime law, promoting and strengthening its development and reputation, cooperating with state bodies in drafting and adopting maritime law, participating in the international unification of maritime law, striving to harmonize Slovenian maritime law with the acquis. , as well as assisting and advising natural and legal persons in the field of maritime law (Article 5 of the Statute). MLAS representatives regularly participate in meetings and conferences of CMI, they fill in questionnaires of various fields and actively co-operate in other forms in the work of CMI.
The association was admitted to the CMI towards the end of 1993. CMI was established in 1897 and, in its roles as special non-governmental international organisation, brings together over 50 national maritime law associations. In its more than 100 year history, CMI has brought forward a considerable number of maritime conventions, thus making a significant contribution to the unification of maritime law. Membership of such an organisation is, therefore, very important to the Slovenian Association.
In its first “independent” period, the association wrote an open letter to the government publicly warning about the neglected role of maritime affairs in Slovenia, organizing a round table on the so-called Hamburg Rules and actively participating in the drafting of the new Maritime Code.