Analysis On Legal System Of Documentary Shipper Under Rotterdam Rule

The documentary shipper legal system is one of the innovations of Rotterdam Rules. It abandonedthe dual mode of contractual shipper and consignor shipper under Hamburg Rules and MaritimeCode of China, and created this new dual mode of the shipper and documentary shipper. Thecreation of the documentary shipper legal system, focusing on the balance of interests between thedifferent subjects, can consistent with international legislation and trade shipping practice. InChina’s foreign trade practice, FOB trade terms were used frequently. The creation of thedocumentary shipper system, which was expected to protect the seller’s rights and interests underthe FOB, will undoubtedly have a profound impact for the protection of our country’s FOB seller.The author will apply various research methods including legal interpretation, comparative studies,historical analysis and logical reasoning to analyze and discuss issues arising out of documentaryshipper legal system. Suggestions for perfection of shipper legal system in Maritime Code ofChina are given in the end. The dissertation comprises four Chapters as follows:Chapter1combed the evolution of the shipper legal system under the previous internationalmaritime conventions, and introduced the origin of documentary shipper system under theRotterdam Rules.Chapter2discusses the conditions to be documentary shipper, the rights and obligations of thedocumentary shipper. The thesis discussed the documentary shipper’s rights such as the right ofobtaining transport documents，right of control and transfer right. Documentary shipper also needto undertake obligation such as bearing responsibility for submission of cargo，providing additional information，instructions or documents and so on. The basis and apportionment of theliability also was discussed in this paper.Chapter3dialectically evaluates the of documentary shipper legal system. Its positive performanceis to converging the legislation and practice, improving the shipper legal system, and protectingthe right and interests of the FOB seller. Its negative performance is dependent legal status, theimbalance between rights and obligations, and the risk of fraud.Chapter4introduces the shipper legal system in Maritime Code of China. This paper comparesthe documentary shipper and the shipper under the Maritime Code in China. Legislators need toabsorb the reasonable part of Rotterdam Rules to give advice on amendment of Maritime Code inChina, in order to adapt to new changes and trends in modern shipping development.