Study On The Legal Status Of Payment Of Hire Clause Under Time Charters

The legal status of payment of hire clause under a time charter is often controversial.Under English law,the contract terms are divided into condition,warranty and intermediate term.The main difference is that remedy ways may be used by non-defaulting party are different.For a long time,payment of hire clause was identified as the intermediate term in judicial practice,only in the case of the charterer's breach is severe and goes to the root of the contract,the owner may claim damages.However,for breach of contract does not have a very clear definition,it often need to be judged according to the special circumstances of the case in judicial practice.This makes shipowner's right of claim for damage remains uncertainty.The standard charter forms commonly used often contains a clause of withdraw of vessel,this gives one characteristic of condition to the obligation to pay hire-any breach gives a right of termination.However this doesn't mean that the payment of hire clause is condition,this is generally considered as an option to cancel the time charter.In The Astra case,the judge found that payment of hire clause is a condition,but before the House of Lord makes a binding decision,this remains a matter for discussion.In addition in NYPE2015,it confirms the right to claim for the loss of the remaining period of charterparty,this means the shipping industry demanded for change.Therefore,this paper devoted to study the legal status of the payment of hire,in order to have some reference value for shipping world and judicial practice.This article includes four parts.The first part mainly introduces the history and classification of terms under English law.Through making a brief introduction of contract terms under English law,the difference between conditions,intermediate terms and warranty are analyzed.The second part mainly discusses the disputes of payment of hire clause in the practice of England.Firstly is analyzes the payment of hire clause in several commonly used standard time charter forms.Secondly by citing the relevant cases in judicial practice,further analysis is carried out.The third part analyzes the relevant elements which effects the legal status of payment of hire.The fourth part interprets the relevant provisions in Chinese Maritime Code,and combined with the provisions of the Contract Law for further discussion.