1 INTRODUCTION

The preparation of a draft convention on civil jurisdiction in matters of collision was decided by the Bureau Permanent of the CMI in 1932, concurrently with the preparation of a parallel draft convention on penal jurisdiction and of a draft convention on arrest of ships. Preliminary drafts of the two jurisdiction conventions, prepared by a member of the French Maritime Law Association, Léopold Dor,1 were discussed at a meeting of the International Subcommittee held in Antwerp on 19 November 1932, and questionnaires were distributed to the national maritime law associations. Amended drafts were subsequently prepared by Dor, acting as rapporteur, and submitted at the CMI Conference held in Oslo in August 1933.2 The two drafts were the subject of a thorough debate,3 at the end of which it was decided that they would be submitted to a subcommittee to be appointed by the Bureau Permanent of the CMI.4 The two reports, accompanied by new drafts of both conventions, were considered by the CMI Conference held in Paris in June 1936.5