Carriage Of Goods By Sea Disclaimer

The exclusion clauses are widely used in the carriage of goods by sea. They appear in charter party, bills of lading and other documents. Exclusion clauses are the major device of the risks allocation between parties. Normally, the beneficiary of the exclusion clauses in the bills of lading is the carrier, so the exclusions are at the risk of the cargo interests. In order to learn how to rely on exclusion clauses and allocate the risks between the carrier and the cargo claimer, this dissertation examines exclusion clauses in different rules of liability, on the basis of comparing the international convention, Draft Convention on the Carriage of Goods and Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China. Also the dissertation researches how to construe exclusion clauses, and which incidents bar the right under exclusion clauses.Chapter One of this dissertation is an introduction to the rules of the construction in china and in the UK, which contains the rule of contra proferentem, the construction of negligence clause and the construction of the fundamental breach clause. The freedom of contract is implemented properly in the construction of the exclusion clauses. At the same time, the exclusion clauses are construed strictly. There are two key points for the carrier and the servants who would like to rely on the exclusion clauses successfully. First is whether there is an incident to give the carrier and the servants right to rely on exclusion clauses. Second is the rule of the construction applied in the judgment. This chapter says that only construction in accordance with the special rules applied in Anglo-American courts can realize equity, justice and efficiency.Chapter Two analyses the exclusion clauses of the carriage of goods by sea. The exclusion clauses are divided into five kinds, such as excluded liability, excluded perils, the omission of the shipper, inherent defect of the goods, and Catch-all Clause. According to the exclusion clauses in the Hague Rules, the Hamburg Rules, Draft Convention on the Carriage of Goods, and Maritime Code of the People's Republic of China, this chapter compares the five kinds of exclusion clauses and researches them respectively on different liability rules, burden of proof and legal liability. Moreover, the chapter examines the exclusion clauses with the Anglo-American cases and how to rely on the exclusion clauses.Chapter Three examines the most important incidents which can bar the carrier's right of escaping liability under the exclusion clauses. Incidents selected for discussion are negligence in care of goods, unseaworthiness, deviation and delay. To help the carriers to rely on the exclusion clauses successfully, the chapter mainly discusses the related incidents.The exclusion clauses are very significant, especially to the carrier. Once the carriers perform the right under the exclusion clauses reasonably and flexibly, the perils of the sea will decrease sharply and the cost of shipment will reduce. Then the career of carriage will flourish.