ABSTRACT
The bill of lading plays an important role in most international sale transactions. Regardless of the English courts' tolerant attitude and forward thinking in their commendable promotion of the international character of the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules, they are prone to conflicting interpretations across jurisdictions and seem to be influenced largely by domestic law and national concerns. The shipper packs the container and enters the number of packages in the container on the bill of lading. The carrier is at liberty to surrender in part or in whole any of the rights and immunities allowed to him under the Hague-Visby Rules. The implementing legislation, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, to which the Hague-Visby Rules are attached as a schedule, provides in s 1(2) that the Rules shall have the force of law. The Act is dealing with responsibilities and liabilities under contracts of carriage of goods by sea, and clearly such contractual liabilities are not limited to physical damage.
