Bill Of Lading Nonreceipt Study

Over the years straight bills of lading have given rise to a number of difficulties for both cargo interests and carriers. This has largely been due to the lack of clarity concerning the legal nature, the applicability of the Hague-Visby Rules, the rights of the holders of such bills, and the carriers' liability in respect of delivery. Recently since more and more issues and argument concerning it come out, people have to pay more attention to it and several controversial cases have been reported in Lloyd's Reports. Due to these, the author realizes that it is necessary to do some research work on it in a systematic way.The article focuses on the following issues: the legal nature of straight bills of lading, the classification and the applicable law of the case and whether carries must deliver cargo against production of original straight bills of lading. And these issues are addressed in different ways in different countries, whether by law or by practices. So the article describes these issues according to many countries' laws and practices by comparison.Firstly, the concept of straight bills of lading is briefly introduced in the article; then the legal nature of straight bills of lading is discussed and different laws concerning it are compared. The relationships between the straight bills of lading and the contract of carriage of goods by sea are discussed. In particular, this article analyses whether the said bill is documents of title, which is a hot topic nowadays.On the basis of the previous research, the author draws a conclusion that the classification of the case of delivery without production of the original bills of lading dependents on the cause of action of the plaintiff's pleading. The article cites the House of Lord's decision in The Rafaela S, some of the key questions regarding straight bills, esp. the application of the Hague-Visby Rules and the status of straight bills as document of title.Nowadays, there has been much dispute over the issue on whether carriesmust deliver cargos against presenting original bills of lading, and the issue is a topical issue in our law practices and theories. So addressing this issue is another important part of this article. Notwithstanding that, the requirement of production of the original straight bill of lading for delivery is now confirmed as a pre-requisite to obtain delivery. In any event, to err on the side of caution, it would be good practice for carriers to deliver goods only upon production of the original straight bill of lading in all cases. As regard to the Chinese law, however, the author hold an opinion that carries should be entitled to deliver cargos without production of original straight bills of lading.