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Professor Miriam Goldby, BA LLD (Malta) LLM (LSE) PhD (UCL)

Miriam

Professor of Shipping, Insurance and Commercial Law

Email: m.goldby@qmul.ac.uk
Room Number: Lincoln's Inn Fields

Profile

Miriam Goldby is Professor of Shipping, Insurance and Commercial Law and Director of Research at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London. She was previously director of the Centre’s Insurance, Shipping and Aviation Law Institute (2019-2022) and founder and director of its International Shipping Law LLM (2013-2022). She is the author of Electronic Documents in Maritime Trade: Law and Practice (OUP), the second edition of which was published in 2019, and has published extensively in the fields of shipping, insurance and financial law. She has received research funding from the British Academy, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Lloyd’s of London and has contributed to research undertaken by the Bank of England on InsurTech and by the Law Commission on Anti-Money Laundering. She participated in the work of UNCITRAL WG IV - Electronic Commerce, which led to the adoption of the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records in 2017. She undertook a part-time secondment to the Law Commission of England and Wales to work on the Electronic Trade Documents project (Phase 1 of the Commission’s Digital Assets Project) between November 2020 and March 2022. She is a member of the Comité Maritime International (CMI) Standing Committee on Carriage of Goods, and vice-chair of the International Chamber of Commerce UK (ICC UK) Commercial Law and Practice Committee. She is also a member of British Insurance Law Association (BILA) Committee and editor of the BILA journal. She is a member of the Centre for Maritime Law at the National University of Singapore and joined the centre as a visiting senior research fellow in 2019. In January 2023 she once again visited the NUS Faculty of Law as a Visiting Professor.

Postgraduate Teaching

  • Art Transactions
  • Charterparties: Law and Practice
  • Carriage of Goods
  • English Contract Law
  • Insurance Regulation
  • Legal Aspects of Paperless Trade
  • Marine Insurance Law
  • Maritime Arbitration
  • Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs

Research

Research Interests:

Industry-developed law and its applicability and enforcement, the application of contract theory and law-and-economics theory to insurance and shipping contracts, the developing legal framework governing the digital transformation of international trade, the significance of commercial usage and custom, the regulation of the insurance sector.

Examples of research funding:

Award from Lloyd’s Innovation Department in November 2017 to write a report on Harnessing Smart Contracts for Insurance, co-authored with Prof. Chris Reed.

Awarded funding for two ESRC LISS DTP CASE PhD Studentships of 1+3 years, for research projects on the use of distributed ledger technologies in the insurance sector and on the use of emerging technologies in the shipping sector. Industry partners are Lloyd’s of London and Maritime UK.

Publications

Books (excluding textbooks)

  • Forthcoming (2023): M Goldby, Governing the Digital Transformation of International Trade (OUP).
  • R Aikens, R Lord, M Bools, M Bolding KS Toh and M Goldby, Bills of Lading (3rd edn, Informa: Lloyd’s Shipping Law Library, 2020). Contribution 10%.
  • M Goldby, Electronic Documents in Maritime Trade: Law and Practice: (2nd edn OUP 2019) – 448 pages.
  • M Goldby and L Mistelis (eds), The Role of Arbitration in Shipping Law (OUP, 2016) – 336 pages. Contribution to editing 50%.
  • A Georgosouli and M Goldby (eds), Systemic Risk and the Future of Insurance Regulation (Informa, 2015) – 204 pages. Contribution to editing 50%.
  • M Goldby, Electronic Documents in Maritime Trade: Law and Practice (OUP, 2013) – 400 pages.

Chapters in Edited Collections

  • Forthcoming (2024): ‘The use of insurance documents in international trade: enabling digitalisation’ in O Gurses, Research Handbook on Marine Insurance Law (Edward Elgar).
  • Forthcoming (2023) (with Dr Jeremmy Okonjo) ‘Smart Contracts: Balancing innovation and consumer protection in insurance law and regulation’ in K Lazarus (ed.), Research Handbook on Insurance Law and Regulation (Edward Elgar).
  • ‘Digitalisation of Shipping and Insurance Documents: Implications for Trade Finance’ Chapter 10 in C Hare and D Neo, Trade Finance: Technology, Innovation and Documentary Credits (OUP, 2021), 197-216.
  • ‘The impact of new commercial practices on liner contracts of carriage: new wine in old skins?’ Chapter 10 in J Chuah (ed) Research Handbook on Maritime Law and Regulation (Edward Elgar, 2019), 223-251.
  • ‘Substituting Data for Documents - a new meaning for “conforming tender”?’ Chapter 7 in D Saidov (ed) Research Handbook on International and Comparative Sale of Goods Law (Edward Elgar, 2019), 152-179.
  • ‘Breaches of AML reporting requirements by UK Bankers: Are effective enforcement choices being made by financial regulators?’ in C Russo, R Lastra and W Blair, Research Handbook on Law and Ethics in Banking and Finance (Edward Elgar, 2019), 317-337.
  • ‘Bills of Lading’, Chapter 10 in D Attard, M Fitzmaurice, N Martinez, I Arroyo and E Belja, IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law: Volume II Shipping Law (OUP, 2016), 310-331.
  • ‘The Rising Tide of Paperless Trade: Analysing the Legal Implications’ in B Soyer (ed.), International Trade and Carriage of Goods (Informa, 2016), 145-162.
  • ‘Enforceability of Spontaneous Law in England: Some Evidence from Recent Shipping Cases’ in M Goldby and L Mistelis (eds), The Role of Arbitration in Shipping Law (OUP, 2016), 37-62.
  • (with Anat Keller) ‘Oversight of systemically relevant insurance practices within the EU: the role of macro-prudential supervision’ Chapter 6 in A Georgosouli and M Goldby (eds), Systemic Risk and the Future of Insurance Regulation (Informa, 2015), 65-81. Contribution: 50%.
  • ‘International Law on the Carriage of Goods by Sea: UNCITRAL’s Most Recent Harmonisation Efforts’ Chapter 8 in M Andenas and C Baasch Andersen (eds), Theory and Practice of Harmonisation (2012, Edward Elgar), 149-162.
  • 'Electronic Alternatives to Transport Documents: a framework for future development?' Chapter 9 in D Rhidian Thomas (ed.) A New Convention for the Carriage of Goods by Sea - The Rotterdam Rules (2009, LawText Publishing), 225-241. [This is a very slightly amended version of the 2008 article in JIML listed below].

Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals

  • (with Weishi Yang): ‘Solving the Possession Problem: An Examination of the Law Commission’s Proposal on Electronic Trade Documents’ [2021] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 605-627.
  • ‘Managing the Risks of Switch Bills of Lading’ [2019] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 457-480.
  • (with Anat Keller): ‘Product Intervention as a Macroprudential Tool: the Case of Catastrophe Bonds’ (2019) George Washington International Law Review 1-64. Contribution: 50%.
  • ‘What is needed to get rid of paper? A Fresh Look at Delivery Orders’ (2015) 21 Journal of International Maritime Law 339-347.
  • ‘Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Requirements Imposed by English Law: Measuring Effectiveness and Gauging the Need for Reform’, [2013] Journal of Business Law 367-397.
  •  (with Prof. Indira Carr) ‘Recovering the Proceeds of Corruption: UNCAC and International Anti-Money Laundering Standards’ [2011] Journal of Business Law 170-193. Contribution: 50%.
  • ‘The Impact of Schedule 7 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 on Banks and their Customers’ (2010) 13 Journal of Money Laundering Control 351-371.
  • (with Ms Anat Keller) ‘The Commission’s Proposal for a new European Systemic Risk Board: An Evaluation’ (2010) 4 Law and Financial Markets Review 48-57. Contribution: 50%.
  • (with Prof. Indira Carr) ‘Laundering the Proceeds of Corruption: An assessment of Articles 23 and 14 UNCAC in light of International Anti-Money Laundering Standards’ (2009) 14 Agora: Without Frontiers 324-345. Contribution: 50%.
  •  ‘Electronic Alternatives to Transport Documents and UNCITRAL’s new Convention: a framework for future development?’ (2008) 14 Journal of International Maritime Law 586-596.
  • ‘Electronic bills of lading and central registries: what is holding back progress?’ (2008) 17 Information and Communications Technology Law 125-149.
  • ‘A Re-Assessment of the CMI Rules for Electronic Bills of Lading in the Light of Current Practices’ [2008] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 56-70.
  • ‘The Performance of the Bill of Lading’s Functions under UNCITRAL’s draft Convention on the Carriage of Goods: Unequivocal Legal Recognition of Electronic Equivalents’ (2007) 13 Journal of International Maritime Law 160-182.
  • ‘Incorporation of Charterparty Arbitration Clauses into Bills of Lading: Recent Developments’ (2007) 19 Denning Law Journal 171-180.
  • ‘Cross-Border Inter-bank Settlement within the EU: The Role of the European Central Bank’ (2006) 17 European Business Law Review 135-182.

Book Reviews

  • Review of Cases and Materials on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (5th edn) by A Rogers, J Chuah and M Dockray (2019) 25 Journal of International Maritime Law 521-522.
  • Review of The Law of Electronic Commerce by A Davidson (CUP, 2009) (2011) 20 Information and Communications Technology Law 153-156.
  • Review of Internet Banking and the Law in Europe by A Gkoutzinis (2008) 17 Information and Communications Technology Law 156-162.
  • Review of Understanding International Trade Law by S Schnitzer [2007] Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 267.

Other Publications

  • Contributor to Law Commission of England and Wales, Electronic Trade Documents: Report and Bill, Law Com No. 405, HC 1188, 15 March 2022.
  • Contributor to Law Commission of England and Wales, Digital Assets: Electronic Trade Documents – A Consultation Paper, Consultation Paper 254, 30 April 2021.
  • with C Reed, M MacDonald, K Richards and L Stanbrough, Triggering Innovation: How Smart Contracts Bring Policies to Life, Lloyd’s Emerging Risk Report 2019: Understanding Risk, Lloyd’s of London, 2019, (47 pages). Contribution: 50%.
  • Discussion paper on Legal questions raised by digitalisation: To what extent are they answered by ICC and CMI instruments? Prepared for the ICC-CMI Roundtable on the Digital Transformation of International Trade, on 29th April 2019, published on 23rd August 2019.
  • (with Indira Carr) International Trade Law: Statutes and Conventions 2013-2015, Routledge, 2013. Contribution: 50%.
  • Legislating to facilitate the use of electronic transferable records: A case study, paper prepared for the UNCITRAL Colloquium on Electronic Commerce, New York 14-16 February 2011

Supervision

Public Engagement

  • Member of the British Insurance Law Association Committee and Editor of the BILA Journal
  • Vice-Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce (UK)’s Commercial Law and Practice Committee.
  • Member of the Comité Maritime International Standing Committee on the Carriage of Goods and of the British Maritime Law Association Executive Committee.
  • Participant in UNCITRAL Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce (2012-2017) and in UNCITRAL Working Group VI on Negotiable Cargo Documents (2022- ).
  • External expert for UNCITRAL Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce.
  • External expert for United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) project on Transfer of MLETR-Compliant Titles
  • Observer in UNIDROIT’s Digital Assets and Private Law Working Group

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