Maritime Cargo Damage Claims, The Burden Of Proof

Maritime action is a special litigation system, in which all the parties concerned can prove assertions to be real by supplying detailed, fit, valid and self-beneficial evidences. The main purpose is to protest their rights for asking "public relief" to the most extent. During the litigation, the procedural rule concerning supplying evidences to prove their claims that is to say, system of burden of proof as an important litigation system, has been accepted in most states. However, due to our nation's inherited continent legal system in tradition, in legislation there is always a tendency of attaching importance to substantive law and practice and making light of procedure law and theory . For reasons of being short of reaching into the principle of burden of proof in maritime litigation, the judgment activities always have blindness, eventhough there has been great development in this area in years. Researching methodologies and ideas in this paper are based on the analysis of general principals of burden of proof in Civil Law. Meanwhile, talking the specialties of maritime law into account, this paper researches and analyzes some important facts on the application of burden of proof in maritime cargo claims .This paper has four chapters in total.In Chapter One, the theory of burden of proof has been discussed on the base of basis law. The paper focuses on the conception of burden of proof, the nature of burden of proof and the significant of this research. Upon the above views, this paper compares academic thoughts on allotment of burden of proof.In Chapter Two, the paper discusses the burden of proof in maritime litigation. As maritime law is as a special law of the Civil Law, the general principles of Civil Law, such as allotment of burden of proof, exemption of burden of proof, reversal of burden of proof and presumption of burden of proof, apply in the maritime law as those do in the Civil Law . On the other hand, the basis of liability, the exemption circumstance and the special characteristics of shipping operation together with other substantial aspects in maritime law are different from the Civil Law which may lead to the existence of distinguishing principles in maritimelitigation.This paper emphasizes the third chapter and the forth chapter. In Chapter three, various States' maritime laws and international conventions all formulate directly or indirectly the inferring fault liability applicable for carrier, lead to the inversion of burden of proof . Specifically, when claimants (usually are consignors) have proved that the damage or loss of cargo and the damage or loss took place during the period under carriers, the carriers would be inferred to be liable for the damage or loss . If carriers try to rebut the inference, they should supply the evidence to show the reasons of the damage or loss and their due diligence.On the base of the above discussion, In Chapter four the application of burden of proof in maritime cargo claims has been discussed in details. In the cargo claim proceeding , the burden of proof goes through out all the process of proceeding. According to the cargo claim practice, the detailed discussion and analysis focus on the substantial aspects which need to be proved by the claimant and the carriers.The conclusion summarizes the whole dissertation. The phenomenon of "attaching more importance substantive law than procedural law" existing in Chinese judiciary practice, makes it necessary to survey and emphasize the procedural rule.Zhangjiangyan (International Law) Directed by Professor Cai Cun Qiang...