INAUGURATION SPEECH The law and practice of shipping law have always been closely entwined. There can surely be no other branch of commerce where the practical people know, and need to know, so much of the law; and where professionals know, and need to know, so much of the practice. The skills and qualifications of those who occupy the broad spectrum between the judge and the master mariner merge almost imperceptibly. More recently, with the new and welcome interest which universities and other places of learning now take in specialist areas of law and practice, the world of shipping has gained an extra perspective, brought by those whose academic training enables them to study it systematically from outside. No longer is the evolution of doctrine dependent solely on the chance occurrence of a dispute which the court can seize upon as an opportunity to move the law forward. It is a fact of history, not of vainglory, that we can identify London as the place where practice and theory have so uniquely been blended. It may, however, be asked whether there is really a need for another shipping institution in this crowded commercial city. We are convinced that there is. Duplication is waste, and the promoters of the Centre will take every care to see that its work complements, and does not trespass upon the ground long cultivated by the effective and widely respected organisations which already exist. The aim is to provide in the Centre a permanent administrative and academic structure, and a permanent home, intended to form the nucleus of an interactive programme of shared experience. It will, we hope, become a forum in the original, as well as the contemporary sense, a meeting-place open to all in the industry and to all who serve the industry, for the free exchange, informal as well as structured, of interests and ideas. A glance at the list of guests will show what a wide variety of talents exists in London. It is not too much to hope that these talents can be deployed in harmony to maintain and enlarge the unique achievements of our city. It is in bringing these talents together that the London Shipping Law Centre will strive to play its part. LORD MUSTILL 30th April 1997