A Study On The Burden Of Proof In Fire Exemption Of Carrier Under International Carriage Of Goods By Sea

Due to Maritime Law’s legislation in our country on the burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea exist inadequate regulations and unclear explanations, resulting in this part’s contents lead to the deviation of understanding easily in the practical application and affecting the work efficiency of maritime court to handle such disputes. Therefore, how the Maritime Law should make fair and reasonable provisions for the carrier and the claimant’s burden of proof in fire exemption is becoming a problem to be solved urgently. So this paper first wants to compare the International Conventions’respective applicable characteristics and advantages by analyzing their provisions on the burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea to sum up the absorbing reasonable contents for our Maritime Law, and then uses the value standards of the distribution of burden of proof to analyze the burden of proof of the substantive matters in fire exemption. According to the legal basis and the theoretical basis talked above, this paper will propose supplemental legislative suggestions to modify the provisions about the burden of proof in fire exemption of our Maritime Law in order to help to solve the problems in maritime judicial practice. This paper is divided into five chapters to demonstrate the above ideas and contents:As an overview, the first chapter is divided into five parts to introduce the relevant contents on burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea. The first part briefly introduces the meaning of fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea. The second part analyzes the conditions of fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea. The third part identifies the connotation of the burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea. The fourth part discusses the particularities of the burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea, and then summarizes the controversial three issues that this paper will focus on:first, the burden of proof of the carrier’s obligations of seaworthiness and care for cargo; second, the burden of proof of the time and reasons of fire’s occurrence; third, the burden of proof of the carrier’s fault. The fifth part analyzes the theoretical methods which match this paper’s study on the substantive matters when carrier under international carriage of goods by sea wants to advocate fire exemption. It is going to build theoretical foundation for comparative study and enunciate an orientation for further analysis next.The second chapter, the third chapter and the fourth chapter are the most important chapters of this paper. They discuss the relationship between fire exemption and the carrier’s obligations of seaworthiness and care for cargo and the burden of proof of the last two obligations, the burden of proof of the time and reasons of fire’s occurrence, the burden of proof of the carrier’s fault separately. Each chapter is divided into three sections to discuss. The first section is a comparative analysis of the International Conventions’provisions about the burden of proof of those substantive matters mentioned above to define the International legislative trends and comfortable regulations. The second section generalizes the different views in theoretical circles about those substantive matters. The third section gives this paper’s views through reasonable and profound analysis after the discussion in the first two sections.The fifth chapter analyzes Maritime Law’s provisions about the burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea in a detail way in order to identify our legislation’s shortcomings and defects, and summarizes reasonable regulations which feature the basis of liability for the carrier of Maritime Law, on the burden of proof of substantive matters involved in fire exemption when carrier under international carriage of goods by sea wants to advocate in accordance with the complete discussing through the above four chapters. And then put forwards the legislative suggestions to consummate the provisions regulate the burden of proof in fire exemption of carrier under international carriage of goods by sea in our country.