The Analysis Of The Provisions Of The Rotterdam Rules

Subject to Chapter 15 of The United Nation Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (also the Rotterdam Rules, hereinafter the Rules), parties may agree that any dispute that may arise relating to the carriage of goods under this convention shall be referred to arbitration. Under this chapter, the convention stipulates liner transportation, volume contract, and non-liner transportation relatively. However, the above mentioned provisions, either in the scope or specific conditions, are more sophisticated than the maritime or shipping conventions and arbitration conventions ever before. Under this ground, the author believes that it is necessary to discuss whether the diversification will lead to conflicts and challenges to the whole international arbitration system, especially to the maritime arbitration communities of practice and legislation of China. In the meantime, the researches to this aspect of the Convention scatter in some books at home and abroad, which are not enough. Taking into account that the discuss is necessary and useful, the article combines the macro background and micro prescriptions of the provisions, and discusses the differences of the new convention and the original rules, which is base on the New York Convention, and the conflicts may arise. After that the article will take over how the new rules of the Rules influence the legislation and practice of China, and what China can do to response the undergoing change. The article can be divided into three parts ,introduction,body,and conclusion,in which the body consists four parts reads as follows:Chapter one is the macro introduction of the arbitration provisions in the Rules. Under this chapter the author introduces the purpose and the value of the Rules, and concludes that the provisions are important issues to discuss here. In addition to their inherent importance, the author compares the Rules with the Hamburg Rules in arbitration provision, under the text of the history.Chapter two is the interpretation of the arbitration provisions in the Rules. The article discusses the scope, the general rule, the volume contract exception, the non-liner transportation exception of the texts, summarize the conditions of the application of these provisions, and introduce the issues arises during the future application.Chapter three is the conflicts in the arbitration provisions in the Rules. The article discusses the internal and external conflicts may arise in theory and in practice. The challenges are not only comes from the mandatory enforceability and the'opt-in'nature of the Rules, but also comes from the differences with other related international conventions, especially the New York Convention and the UN International Arbitration Model Law.Chapter four is the influences of the provisions in the Rules. The Articles mainly introduce what our Chinese parties and legislation can do to resist the negative effect. Besides, the article holds that the maritime arbitration of China can refer to some methods of the Rules.