| It is very common that exemption clauses are made in the bill of ladings when related to the carriage of goods by sea, since these clauses serve as an important device and for concerned parties to clarify the responsibilities and liabilities for undertaking risks. Normally, the carriers are the beneficiary of the exemption clauses, while the cargo interests (normally referred to the owner of the goods or the holder of the bill of lading) are the ones that directly bear the risks subject to these clauses. By comparing the international conventions, the Draft Convention on The Carriage of Goods by Sea, the Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China, and other domestic laws and legislations, the thesis analyzes the scopes and connotations of the exemption clauses in different historical periods, different economic and social backgrounds and different liability systems, thus to show the development of exemption clauses in the bill of ladings; the author further explains the essential reason for the exemption clauses'evolution and studies on the explanation and invocation of some crucial articles.Chapter One introduces the legal definition of exemption clauses in the bill of ladings and analyzes the historical evolutions, social backgrounds and the significance of studying exemption clauses, by comparing different legislation principles for exemption clauses in domestic legal systems with those in the international ones. It also reveals the process that the criteria of liability have developed from strict responsibilities and incomplete fault liabilities to responsibilities for full negligence and how the liability system are united and split up. Some important legal affairs in the process are described in it. Meanwhile, it mainly introduces the new rules on exemption clauses for carriers of lading in Rotterdam Rules.In Chapter Two, based on the four international conventions, The Hague Rules, The Visby Rules, The Hamburg Rules and The Rotterdam Rules and the Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China, and other relevant domestic laws and legislations, the author makes research on the categorizing and content of exemption clauses by means of nomological analysis, provision invocation and case study through vertical analysis on the historical evolution and lateral comparison of different legislations. This chapter focuses the study on two kinds of exemption clauses, the exemption of negligence in the navigation or management of ship and the exemption of marine fire, and the, and gives detailed analysis on the discussion of abolishment or preservation of the "Exception of Nautical Fault". The exemption situations of exceptions noted on the bill of lading, delivery of cargo without B/L and refus of bill of lading are analyzed, including their connotations and denotations as well as legal duty analysis and theory analysis, to have fairly understanding of the exemption clauses for earriers.Chapter Three provides research on the four incidents which can bar the carrier from escaping liability under the exemption clauses (unseaworthiness, negligence of the care of goods, deviation and delay deliverance), and discusses the limit of the invocation of exemption clauses in order to further clarify the denotation of the exemption clauses.The novelty and progressive of Rotterdam Rules are stated in the epilogue; it is also pointed out that the international shipping order may come into a new era due to the existence of Rotterdam Rules. In the conclusion the author makes some revisions for whether our country should join in the new international treaty and the exemption clauses for carriers in The Maritime Code, and puts forward some immature suggestions for carriers how to adjust to the new international rules. |
