ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the Bills of lading in non-negotiable form. The negotiable Bill of Lading serves three different purposes. It is a receipt for the goods on board; best available evidence of the contract of carriage; and a document of title. The Bill of Lading is evidence of the contract of carriage. It is never the contract. A simple practical reason why it is not, as is a charterparty, is that it is only signed by one party—the Master, as agent for the owner, or somebody representing the carrier. Bills of lading have never been classed as negotiable instruments, only negotiable documents. The rights and liabilities respectively of carrier and shipper, principal parties to contracts of carriage evidenced by or contained in Bills of Lading, have come under the aegis of international regimes of liability since 1924, the year in which the Hague Rules were offered for adoption by maritime countries.
