LEGAL ISSUES

Law Case Study



Law Case Study

Introduction-Carriage of Goods by Sea

Carriage of Goods by Sea act was enacted in 1992 by the UK government. This was enacted to replace the Bill of Lading Act 1855 with new provisions to cater the need of international shipping and carriage environment. A contract of carriage by sea is a contract entered into between a shipper (who may be a seller, a buyer, or an agent of the seller or the buyer), and the carrier (who could be a ship-owner, a charterer of a vessel, or their agent), for the purpose of transporting goods from one place to another by sea. Such a contract has the following characteristics:

it is made between a shipper and a carrier,

it is a contract for providing the services of transporting goods;

it involves transmission of goods by sea either partly or entirely; and

It often involves transport of goods from one country to another, although in Australia interstate carriage of goods by sea is subject to the same law as international carriage of goods by sea.

A contract of carriage stipulates matters relating to safe conveyance of goods from one designated place to another designated place. The purpose of the contract is to ensure that the goods are carried in a safe and timely manner by the carrier. The rights and duties of the contracting parties are defined on this basis (Peter, 2000, pp. 1-37). Generally speaking, the parties should agree on the time and place of shipment and delivery, the route of voyage, the payment of freight, the liabilities of the parties in performing the necessary task of transmitting the goods from the agreed place to their destination, transshipment, liability of the carrier's servants or agents, choice of law choice of forum or arbitration, incorporation of charter party clauses (if applicable), and any other matters which may affect the rights and liability of the parties.

The acceding on the avenue of the boating is important, in adjustment to abstain accidental risks, and to ascertain the ambit of the carrier's accountability if losses or amercement appear from crooked stopovers. The agreed avenue of the boating is aswell important in practice, in the faculty that a assertive blazon of cargo, such as fruits, may alone angle a almost abbreviate aeon of carrying afore axis bad, or that the bazaar for a assertive blazon of artefact is too airy to angle a continued aeon of carriage. The liabilities of the carrier and abettor will be discussed in detail in the sections ambidextrous with their accountability beneath the Hague-Visby Rules and the Hamburg Rules.

A arrangement of carrying can be fabricated orally or in writing. Although the actuality of a arrangement of carrying is generally represented by a bill of lading, a boating allotment party, or a agnate document, such as a sea waybill, assignment agenda or a mate's receipt, the arrangement can abide apart of the bill of lading, the boating allotment affair or agnate document.

The acceptation of a arrangement of carrying is flexible, depending on the ...