Abstract
As early as 1818 in Marseilles merchants were asking the courts to recognise the legal character of the maritime sale of goods, which was a sale of a bill of lading representing goods at sea in a ship. The courts of Marseilles found suitable to hear and decide cases in accordance with the law merchant despite the lack of authority in the French Commercial Codes. Merchants everywhere began to deal with documents representing goods without waiting to check the goods as it was the practice under the Napoleonic Code. Thus, the transition of the bill of lading from a mere receipt to a negotiable instrument developed by the practice of merchants arranging the sale of goods in transit. The success of the use of bills of lading in international trade is attributable to its negotiable character and its feature as a document of title.
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