Kochi: The latest attraction in legal studies seems to be Admiralty Law with several law students taking up the course. The Indian Maritime University is all set to start a course this academic year in Kochi. Experts say the Enrica Lexie case and other related maritime disputes have spurred the rush for the course.
According to Adv Shyam Kumar, visiting professor in many universities and an expert lawyer in the field, many students have realised the importance of maritime law and its possibilities.
At present, the Kerala University of Fisheries & Ocean Studies has an LLM course in maritime law and the Cochin University of Science and Technology also conducts the same course.
The School of Maritime Law was set up at the Indian Maritime University in August 2011. It currently offers an LLM Maritime Law programme at IMU Chennai, and has plans to introduce it in Kochi. The course runs for two years. Apart from that, law colleges in the state have one paper on maritime law in their curriculum.
According to senior counsel V.J. Mathew, of late, several students are specializing in Admiralty Law given its vast job prospects. The Enric Lexie case, the Prabhudaya incident and several minor ship-related disputes had hit the headlines in the state.
The huge amount of money involved in maritime disputes is the main attraction for young lawyers. More than a dozen advocates in the state have appeared for the Italians as well as the victims before courts in Kerala.
