Study Of Maritime Cargo Damage Disputes The Burden Of Proof

"Certain Rules on Evidence of Civil Litigation" published by the Supreme Court on April 1^st 2002 stipulates clearly that the parties in a litigation shall bear their burden of proof and that the judges shall make judgments according to the evidence which is submitted by the parties. Therefore, the issues on burden of proof are significantly important for parties and judges in litigation procedures.Most of the maritime cases are mainly involved marine cargo claims. The marine cargo claim cases discussed in this thesis refer to those arising from cargo damages or losses. This thesis in three parts expounds the principals of burden of proof and the standard of proving, based on Rosenberg's theories on burden of proof and the Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China (CMC) as well as some International Conventions on Carriage of Goods by Sea, also on the ground of UNCITRAL Draft Instruments on Carriage of Goods by Sea and numbers of precedent cases in and abroad China.In the first part, the author analyses the burden of proof on claimant who shall firstly prove that the cargos were damaged or lost and the cargo damages happened just during the responsibility period of the carrier.The second part is mainly on the carrier's burden of proof on the causes of the cargo damages. This part, divided into six sub-chapters, emphasizes the burden of proof on some focusing issues such as fault in the navigation or management of the ship, fire, force major, nature or inherent vice of the goods etc.. The author also advises whether the carrier shall prove he has exercised due diligence to make the ship seaworthy before he is entitled to exoneration from the liability according to Article 51 of CMC.The third part is mainly discussing on the burden of proof on the three kinds of basic obligations of the carrier, which are "exercising due diligence to make the ship seaworthy", "not making unreasonable deviation" and "taking care of the goods properly and carefully".In one word, studies on burden of proof are essentially studies on the stipulations on the responsibilities of the carrier in Chapter Four of CMC, which includes the liability and responsibility of the carrier and the basic obligations of the carrier. The key points of burden of proof are not only that the parties shall submit the evidence to the court but also what evidence he shall submit and whether the evidence can prove his propositions.