ABSTRACT
In thinking about the Transit Clause in the Institute Cargo Clauses, I have been reminded of the famous dictum of Lawton LJ in Maxwell v DTI: 1
From time to time… lawyers and judges have tried to define what constitutes fairness. Like defining an elephant, it is not easy to do, although fairness in practice has the elephantine quality of being easy to recognise.
After all, at first blush what could be clearer and more obvious than a ‘warehouse to warehouse’ or ‘transit’ clause? Surely there is no difficulty in establishing what the clause is to cover? Well, one might think so, but just like defining fairness, it has proved a surprisingly slippery beast to pin down in words.