Research On Legal Liabilities Of The Carrier’s Delivery Of Cargo Without Presentation Of B/L

In the practice of international shipping and trade, only receivers with original B/L can get goods from carriers or his agents and employees. So gradually "delivery of goods with presentation of B/L" became a fundamental rule of international shipping. No matter to the sellers or the buyers, this rule, which is established by Bills of Lading Act, has great significance. With respect to the sellers, it ensures them to receive the payment of goods on time. On the other hand, it also makes sure that the buyers can achieve drawn right in time after payment. However, because of delivery of goods without presentation of the B/L,the sellers often cannot acquire the payment and the legitimate holders of the B/L cannot get the goods. Therefore, an increasing number of disputes about it, which take a great proportion of submarine trial, appear. The focus of disputes is always on the legal liability of carriers. Nevertheless, recent laws in China haven’t legislated this issue clearly, and no matter whether in the field of theory or practice, there are many controversies. So currently the difficulties of trial are increasing, which limits the development of international sales of goods and shipping industry. Consequently, research on this issue and reasonable distributions of liability between parties who deliver goods without presentation of B/L not only guarantees shipping industry going well but also promotes the perfection of Maritime Code of The People’s Republic of China. Combining the relevant theories and based on the issues about the delivery of goods without presentation of B/L in theory and practice, in this paper, the author has a deep research on the legal liability of carriers who deliver goods without presentation of B/L and provides some relevant advices in order to prevent and solve the disputes about it and promote the development of shipping industry and international trade in China.Besides the introduction and conclusion, this article is divided into five parts.In the first part, the author analyzes the intention of delivery of goods without presentation of B/L and problems of it. Firstly, the author defines the concept to help readers understand and recognize delivery of goods without presentation of B/L, and then analyzes the problems appeared in it, which lays a foundation for further discussions.In the second part, the author mainly introduces the legal liability of carriers who deliver goods without presentation of B/L and the different ideas about it. Firstly, the author explains how to define the nature of the legal liability of carriers who deliver goods without presentation of B/L in practice in China, and then introduces and evaluates the relevant theories about it (mainly include three theories: tort liability, default liability and concurrent liability).In the third part, the author discusses the doctrine of liability fixation of carriers who deliver goods without presentation of B/L. Firstly, the author introduces the relevant provisions of Hague Rules, Visby Rules and Hamburg Rules, especially the new provisions of Rotterdam Rules about the doctrine of liability fixation of carriers who deliver goods without production of B/L, and then evaluates and analyzes this issue combining different theories in China.In the fourth part, the author mainly describes and makes a deeply study of the limitation and exemption of liability of carriers who deliver goods without presentation of B/L.In the fifth part, based on the analysis and research above, the author tries to put forward some advices on legislation, judiciary and practice considering the existing laws, judicial situation and shipping trade practice in China and combining three international conventions and legislative trend in the new convention-Rotterdam Rules.