FOREWORD

This book is a compilation of the presentations made at the First Maritime Seminar for Judges of the Superior Courts of Judicature held in Accra Ghana from the 14th to the 15th of May 2004.

The compilation of this maiden volume is in response to the numerous calls and e-mails received by the Ghana Shippers' Council, organisers of the Seminar, from legal practitioners judges maritime transport operators and practitioners as well as several others, for a publication of the papers presented at the Seminar.

It is common knowledge that the judiciary is a composite part of the machinery of state with a responsibility to promote the growth and development of the nation. Thus, the yearning desires of a just society poised for growth is better served by a well-informed judiciary.