The common law remedy known as ‘piercing the corporate veil’, a remedy notorious for being difficult to prove and inconsistently applied by our courts, has recently received attention from the Western Cape High Court in the decision of Ex parte Gore NNO [2013] 2 All SA 437.

Legal professional privilege, also known as attorney-client privilege, is an important concept to keep in mind with regard to any situation where litigation has been commenced or is imminent. In terms of this doctrine, evidence which is otherwise admissible may be rendered immune from disclosure to the other side on the grounds that these are confidential communications between an attorney and his or her client.

The MV "Kiani Satu" grounded and subsequently sank off South Africa’s coastline in August 2013.

Confidentiality is considered one of the major benefits of arbitration and is, in some cases, the sole reason why parties opt for arbitration instead of normal court proceedings.

Attractive new shipping provisions in South Africa’s new Taxation Laws Amendment bill go some way in showing that the government is serious about taking steps to revive South Africa’s rather sleepy international shipping sector.

The importance of the RETLA Clause in Bills of Lading has been highlighted in the recent Breffka & Hehnke GMBH & Co KG and Others v Navire Shipping Co. Ltd and others (The SAGA EXPLORER) [2012] EWHC 3124 (Comm) decision in which the English Commercial Court did not follow the Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Company Ltd v Retla Steamship Company [1970] 2 Lloyd's Rep 91 United States Court of Appeal (Ninth Circuit) decision.

The Alina II judgment handed down by the Western Cape High Court under case number AC47/2010 in January 2013 is important as it highlights the robust approach taken by our courts with regard to evidence of ownership when it comes to arrests.

It is in the context of a private company (where shares cannot always simply be sold on an open market as recourse to an undesirable resolution being passed) that the need for protective mechanisms for minority shareholders’ interests is highlighted.

The proliferation of the Private Maritime Security Company in the merchant maritime domain has been succeeded by substantial measures toward greater regulation, providing detailed provisions regulating the operation of PMSCs and deployment of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel on board merchant ships transiting the Gulf of Aden.