Prof. Debattista is a specialist in international trade law in general and international sale contracts, letters of credit, carriage of goods by sea (charter parties and bills of lading), commercial arbitration (commodities and shipping) as well as comparative private law (contract law and the law of obligations) in particular.

Prof. Debattista has worked closely with ICC over a number of years. Most recently, Prof. Debattista co-chaired the Task Force which drafted ICC E-terms 2004, a set of contract clauses facilitating the formation of contracts through electronic means.

In 2003, he was Draftsman-in-Chief of the ICC Force Majeure Clause 2003 and of the ICC Hardship Clause 2003. Prof. Debattista chaired the international drafting group for Incoterms 2000 and was a member of the drafting group which produced the ICC Model Contract for the International Sale of Manufactured Goods. Prof. Debattista serves at the panel of Consultants for the new version of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP) currently being drafted.

Memberships

• Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Supporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators' Association

Vitae

After qualifying at the Bar in Malta, Prof. Debattista lectured English Law at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar. Based at Southampton since the start of his career, Prof. Debattista has also held visiting appointments at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA and the University of Oslo. Prof. Debattista was Director of the Institute of Maritime Law for three years between 2000 and 2002.

Within the UK, Prof. Debattista had earlier been one of the main consultants to the Law Commission in its work leading up to the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992. Prof. Debattista was also an adviser to the British Maritime International's 1990 Rules on Electronic Bills of Lading, on which he was also Rapporteur General for the CMI.

Prof. Debattista is an active arbitrator in international commercial disputes as well as an Associate Member and Arbitrator at Stone Chambers, London. Furthermore, he is a Gafta arbitrator and has also been trained under the ICC Arbitration Rules. Charles currently arbitrates in international commercial disputes.

Languages

English

Publications

Recent articles

• Drafting Enforceable Dispute Resolution Clauses, Arbitration International, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2005, p. 233-240
• Note in Lloyd's List on 2 March 2005 (p. 6) on J.I. MacWilliam Co. Inc. v. Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A. (The Rafaela S.) [2005] UKHL 11: Lords ruling sets out stance on straight bill presentation - with Ingolf Kaiser
• Note in Lloyd's List on 8 December 2004 (p. 6): An English sale of goods Act that will be suitable for the worldwide market - with Steven Gee
• Note in Lloyd's List on 20 October 2004 (p. 6) on Fal Oil Co v. Petronas Trading Corp. [2004] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 282: Appeal ruling puts commodity traders in a legal quandary - with Rebecca Chetwood
• Laytime and Demurrage Clauses in Contracts of Sale - links and connections, [2003] LMCLQ p. 508-524
• Note in Lloyd's List on 21 May 2003 on The Spear 1 [2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 567, a first instance decision on laytime and demurrage in oil contracts
• Note in Lloyd's List on 23 April 2003 on The Rafaela S [2003] EWCA Civ 556, a decision of the Court of Appeal on straight consigned bills of lading and the Hague-Visby Rules
• Legislative Techniques in International Trade: Madness or Method? 2002 JBL 626-637
• Note in Lloyd's List on 21 February 2001 on the identity of the carrier and The Starsin, cited with approval in the House of Lords, [2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 571

Practitioner works

• Halsbury's Laws of England, vol. 41, Sale of Goods and Supply of Services, 2000;
• The Transfer of Ownership in the International Sale of Goods, (ed. and contributor of English law section), ICC-Kluwer, 1999;
• The Sale of Goods Carried by Sea, (second edition), Butterworths, December 1998;
• Halsbury's Laws of England, vol. 43(2), Shipping and Navigation, co-author on Carriage of Goods by Sea with Professor Hardy Ivamy, 1997;

Books

• Incoterms 2000: A Forum for Experts, ICC, 2000, Incoterms and Documentary Practices, pp. 63-89; Incoterms in Practice, International Chamber of Commerce, (ed. and contributor of a chapter on Incoterms and the Contract of Carriage), 1995;
• Chorley & Giles' Shipping Law, with Gaskell and Swatton, Pitman, Carriage of Goods by Sea, pp. 165-323, eighth ed. 1987.
• Performance Bonds and Letters of Credit: A Cracked Mirror Image in (1997) JBL, 289-305;
• Carriage Conventions and their Interpretation in English Law in (1997) JBL 130-142;
• The Seller's Right of Stoppage in Goods Carried by Sea - the Carrier's Dilemma in Essays in Honour of Hugo Tiberg, Juristfrlaget, 1996, Stockholm, pp. 181-192;
• Performance Bonds under the ICC Rules and the UNCITRAL Convention in (1996) 2 Documentary Credits Insight 19-20;
• The Benefits and Uncertainties of UCP 500 Article 24 in (1995) 1 Documentary Credits Insight 11-13;
• Banks and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act: Secure Transport Documents and the UCP 500 in (1994) 9 Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law 329-338.