8th Annual International Conference on Law

Description

'Purchasing a "Black Hole": Liability of the Lawful Holder of the bill of Lading for Damage caused by Dangerous Cargo?' Abstract: The paper looks at the potential liabilities of the lawful holder of the bill of lading for dangerous cargo. Whilst the obligation to inform the carrier of the dangerous nature and liability resulting from the breach is with the shipper, English case-law contained conflicting decisions as to whether the lawful holder of the bill of lading is burdened with such liability by virtue of exercising his rights under the bill of lading against the carrier. While more recent decisions seem to accept such transfer, each declines liability of the holder for other reasons, particular to the case. The Law Commission Document ‘Rights of Suit in Respect to Carriage of Goods by Sea’ (LAW COM No 196; SCOT LAW COM No 130, at para 3.22) on the reform of the Bill of Lading Act 1855 rejected the proposition that special provision should be made to avoid transfer of liability of such liability to the holder of the bill of lading.The paper investigates the rational of such a transfer of liability and its suitability with general principles of English law and drawing on a comparative analysis with other legal systems on carriage of goods.The relevant provisions of international carriage conventions, in particular the recent 2008 UN Convention on contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (the Rotterdam Rules), which contains provisions regarding a transfer or rights and duties, and also road, rail and air carriage conventions with their provisions on consignment notes and waybills are analysed.It is argued that such conventions only transfer liabilities clearly indicated on the bill of lading, waybill or consignment note. In order to transfer the shipper’s personal duty on a third party lawful holder of the bill of lading further elements are required, justifying the imposition of liability. Otherwise the cargo purchaser could end up buying a ‘black hole’ of liabilities, practically insuring the risk of enforcement against the shipper.It is argued that if the Rotterdam Rules were to be implemented into UK law and thus their non-derogatory rules in this respect, the provisions of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 would have to be amended. This would then call for an overall consideration of the issue in order to avoid disparities between the positions under waybills or straight bills and negotiable bills of lading.

Period	18 Jul 2011
Event type	Conference
Location	Athens, GreeceShow on map