Carrier's Liability Regime Of The Law Of Carriage Of Goods By Sea In The Republic Of Togo

The main subject discussed in this paper is the liability regime of the law of carriage of goods by sea in the Republic of Togo.The dissertation focuses on the liability regime as a whole concept under the Rotterdam Rules for the fact that the Republic of Togo have ratified the Rotterdam Rules and incorporated them into the national legislation regarding the carriage of goods by sea which is the New Code of the Merchant Marine.It analyzes the liability regime of the maritime carrier under the Togolese legislation from the inception of the law of carriage of goods by sea in the Republic of Togo to the ratification of the Rotterdam by the Republic of Togo.The paper also analyzes the two main features of the carrier's liability regime that are the obligations and the liability of the carrier.The analysis concerns the study on the obligations and the liability of the maritime carrier under the Rotterdam Rules and the comparison of the provisions of the Rotterdam Rules with the English common law and the Chinese law.The first Chapter is essentially about some general issues of the dissertation.It introduces the whole concept of the carrier's liability regime starting from the background and purpose of the concept to the method and material used in the research.It is worth noting that the purpose of the research is the examination of the origin of the liability regime of the carrier under Togolese legislation and the main features of the carrier's liability regime under the Rotterdam Rules.This chapter also refers.to the research questions leading to the redaction of the dissertation and the review of the Togolese literature and the international literature on the liability regime of the maritime carrier.The second Chapter as indicated by the title is about the evolution of the carrier's liability regime under Togolese legislation.As the basis of the research,it explains in detail the evolution of the liability regime of the maritime carrier under Togolese legislation,before the independence of the Republic of Togo to the ratification of the Rotterdam Rules,including the adoption of national laws regarding maritime transport,particularly the law of carriage of goods by sea that is the New Code of the Merchant Marine.This Chapter relates chronologically all the existing legislative instruments before the ratification of the Rotterdam Rules and explains the difficulties encountered on the adoption of the New Code of the Merchant Marine.The third Chapter analyzes the obligations of the carrier regarding the carriage of goods by sea.It relates the.period of responsibility and the obligations provided by the Rotterdam Rules and compares them with the provisions under English common law and under the Chinese Maritime Code.The Chapter focuses on the principle of door-to-door approach as provided by the Rotterdam Rules and the obligations of care for the cargo,duty of seaworthiness and the obligation of delivery of the goods.The comparison concerns the provisions of the Chinese Law,English law and Rotterdam Rules regarding the specific obligations of the carrier and the result on whether they are identical or the differences they present.It also refers to some existing cases especially in English common law to illustrate the comparison.The fourth Chapter relates to the liability of the carrier under the Rotterdam Rules.It analyzes the carrier's liability for loss,damage,and delay in the delivery of the goods.The Chapter focuses on the basis of carrier's liability,the burden of proof and the limitation of his liability under the Rotterdam Rules.It exposes the fault-based liability system under the Rotterdam Rules and explains the exemptions provided under the Rotterdam Rules.It also analyses all the changes that occurred on the Rotterdam Rules with regard to the liability of the carrier while comparing them with English common law,Chinese law as well as the Hamburg Rules.The analysis in this Chapter is extended to the explanation of the allocation of the burden of proof under the Rotterdam Rules and emphasizes the new step-by-step approach in relation to the burden-shifting procedure under the Rotterdam Rules,comparing with the counterparts with 'the English law and Chinese law.It also introduces the evolution of the allocation and burden-shifting procedure under English law.The analysis under this Chapter is also extended to the limitation of carrier's liability provided by the Rotterdam Rules and comparison with related provisions under English law and Chinese law.The fifth Chapter concludes the research after all the analysis and provides possible answers to all questions that have been posed during the discussion of the dissertation.