Documents of title in carriage of goods by sea under English law : Legal nature and possible future directions Cover Image

Documents of title in carriage of goods by sea under English law : Legal nature and possible future directions
Documents of title in carriage of goods by sea under English law : Legal nature and possible future directions

Author(s): Časlav Pejović
Subject(s): Civil Law, Maritime Law, Commercial Law
Published by: Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti
Keywords: transport documents; carriage of goods by sea; document of title; bill of lading; multimodal transport document; sea waybill; transfer of property; transfer of rights;

Summary/Abstract: Transport documents in carriage of goods by sea may serve as evidence not only of the contract of carriage, but also of the receipt of goods. Some transport documents have also the status of documents of title, which means that they are able to represent the goods and entitle their holders to demand delivery from the carrier. This function of transport documents plays an important role in overseas sales, enabling the seller to sell the goods in transit while the physical delivery is not yet possible. Transport documents acting as documents of title also represent an essential element of letters of credit. The law has defined the characteristics and functions of transport documents, and hence which documents can qualify as documents of title. In principle, a document can be recognized as document of title only by statute or by general custom. Presently, under English law, among transport documents only bills of lading are recognized as documents of title. Other transport documents presently used in sea carriage are of modern invention and no custom of merchants relating to them has been established. The purpose of this paper is to examine first the notion of a document of title; secondly, the rights which are transferred by the transfer of the bill of lading, as the only transport document with undisputed status as document of title; and thirdly, to investigate the prospect that under English law, in addition to bills of lading, other transport documents can be recognized as documents of title.

  • Issue Year: 43/2004
  • Issue No: 158
  • Page Range: 43-83
  • Page Count: 41
  • Language: English