Dr Felicity G. Attard was invited by Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Prof. of International Law, at Queen Mary University of London, to lecture in the Fundamental Questions in the Law of Treaties module, which forms part of the LL.M in International Law programme.

Prof. Fitzmaurice introduced Dr Attard as an internationally recognised expert in the law of the sea. In her lecture, Dr Attard reviewed developments in international treaty law since the duty to render assistance was codified in early maritime treaties at the beginning of the last century, including the 1910 International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Assistance and Salvage at Sea, the 1910 International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law with respect to Collisions between Vessels, and the 1914 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

Despite decades of practice, the legal formulae adopted in these treaties formed the basis of the contemporary treaty regime regulating the duty as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and legal instruments adopted by the International Maritime Organization. She also examined the important role of treaties in the creation of customary international law regulating the duty to render assistance.

The lecture concluded with a discussion of the efficacy of the current legal response strategies to the challenges posed by the issue of irregular maritime migration.