A Critical Analysis of the Protection offered to Third Parties in Respect of Liabilities and Immunities under a Bill of Lading

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Law - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0 (A), , language: English, abstract: The transportation of goods between exporters in one country and importers in another is one of the most important elements of international commerce and thus constitutes a significant part of an international sales contract. Even today, a large amount of cargo is still transported from one country to another by sea. Thus, bills of lading continue to play a crucial role. As defined by Lord Justice Blackburn in "Blackburn on the Contract of Sale" , a bill of lading is "[a] writing signed on behalf of the owner of ship in which goods are embarked, acknowledging the receipt of the Goods, and undertaking to deliver them at the end of the voyage, subject to such conditions as may be mentioned in the bill of lading." For a carrier, a bill of lading serves as evidence of a shipping contract and contains the terms of carriage. In particular, as any agreements not specified on the bill of lading do not affect third parties, the bill plays a crucial role in international trade.
In terms of international universal rules which are applicable for international carriages, and especially bills of lading, the most influential sets of rules are the Hague Rules and the Hague-Visby Rules, as well as the Hamburg Rules. Accordingly, the responsibilities and liabilities of carriers in cases in where goods are being transported on the basis of bills of lading are determined by the Hague and the Hague-Visby Rules, which are widely accepted in this realm. The Hamburg Rules, in contrast to the previous two, has found itself under more political pressure from developed nations and hence defines responsibilities of carriers in a wider fashion. However, due to this, it has not been as widely ratified and is, thus, more limited in its application.
However, due to the less wide net of the Hague-Visby Rules in relation to the period of responsibility as well as definitional issues regarding the limitation of liability and immunities of third parties in bills of lading, there is still a sense of uncertainty in the area of carriage contracts.
These will be briefly discussed in the following. A particular focus will be placed on the issues in defining third parties and the mechanisms used to link the effects of tortious claims to contractual claims under international uniform law. This will be followed by an examination of the rationale and legitimacy issues of Himalaya clauses to grant third parties liability protection under universal international law.