Abstract
The Rotterdam Rules set forth, on the lines of the Hague-Visby Rules, a number of excepted perils when the carrier will not be liable for the damage to cargo. The institute of excepted perils was established by the Hague Rules almost 90 years ago, and is still implemented in practice. For such cases exceptionally the carrier is not liable under the principle of assumed guilty, but under the principle of proven guilty. In the preliminary activities for concluding the new international convention, the possibility has been considered of abolition of the institute of excepted perils has been considered, but in the end nevertheless, on the initiative of mainly maritime states, it has been retained, developed and more contemporarily styled, i.e. concerted with the requirements of the contemporary maritime transport. The Rotterdam Rules in Article 17, Paragraph 3, taxatively cite the excepted perils due to which the carrier will be able to exculpate from liability. The key difference is that error in navigation is no longer an excepted peril. Especially important novelties introduced by the Rotterdam Rules are exemption of the carrier from liability due to the acts of piracy, terrorist attacks, undertaking measures to avoid or prevent possible damage to the environment, and alike.
Highlights
Carrier’s liability is one of the crucial problems regarding the contract of carriage of goods by sea
Laying down the Rotterdam Rules was undertaken due to the fact that nowadays in the world to regulate the relations in the carriage of goods by sea more than one system of international convention legal regulations are simultaneously implemented, which certainly does not contribute to the standardization of maritime transport law
By the institute of excepted perils a whole range of cases when the carrier will not be liable for damage to goods is prescribed
Summary
Carrier’s liability is one of the crucial problems regarding the contract of carriage of goods by sea. The Hague Rules in Article 4, Paragraph 2, provide for special cases due to which the carrier will not be liable for loss or damage resulting from them Those cases are referred to as excepted perils, and they represent an exception from the general liability principle. Laying down the Rotterdam Rules was undertaken due to the fact that nowadays in the world to regulate the relations in the carriage of goods by sea more than one system of international convention legal regulations are simultaneously implemented, which certainly does not contribute to the standardization of maritime transport law. The Rotterdam Rules contain a number of new solutions, in certain cases there has been an attempt to include the traditional solutions from the Hague-Visby Rules and Hamburg Rules They retained the implementation of the institute of excepted cases in accordance with the Hague-Visby rules. The Rotterdam Rules have not been implemented and it is very hard to say if it is ever going to happen
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