On The Legal Nature Of The Bill Of Lading

The Bill of Lading is the most important document not only in the carriage of goods by sea, but also in the international trade. The Bill of Lading has led to the substitute of documentary sale by goods sale, and quickened modern commercial development. However, the basic principles of the Bill of Lading have not got a universal conclusion, and the point is whether the Bill of Lading is document of title or credit of title, which will do no good to the development of international trade. This thesis analyzes the character of the Bill of Lading at every stage which the Bill of Lading has been involved in. In the end, the author concluded that the lake of certain law regarding to the Bill of Lading led to the argument of its character.Part one introduces the history of the Bill of Lading, and then introduces the different views about the character of the Bill of Lading_and gives comment on them. Based on analysis, the author draws the conclusion that the Bill of Lading is a transferable security, which has not only the quality of document of title, but also the quality of document of creditPart two is the most important part of this thesis. In this part, the author gives a detailed discussion on the characters of the Bill of Lading. In the international sale of goods, the Bill of Lading acted as an initial evidence of ownership of goods. That is to say, if there is no opposite evidence to prove special appointment between the buyer and the seller or special rules, the transfer of the Bill of Lading is equal to the transfer of goods. In the stage of international payment, the holder of the Bill of Lading has the pledge of rights. No matter whoever has the ownership of goods, the bank just wants to get the payment from the buyer. In the stage of shipping, the relationship between the holder of the Bill of Lading and the carrier is different from that between the carrier and the shipper. Their rights and obligations are ruled by the records on the Bill of Lading.Part three analyses the major reason why the character of the Bill of Lading hasn't been unified is that we haven't a complete legal system of the Bill of Lading. The author gives some suggestions about building a complete law system of the Bill of Lading.The last part concluded the characters of the Bill of Lading. The author emphasizes that we should analyze and define the characters of the Bill of Lading from a systematic...