Legal Case Study

Legal Case Study This case is about the disagreement between Simpsons Ltd v Thowers

Ltd. The carrier’s liabilities will be discussed in three parts,

firstly to resolve the problem, I am going to give a short description

of the main components of the contract of carriage of goods by sea Act

1971, secondly I will decide which of the Hague Visby rules or the

Common law is applicable, and to finish I am going to apply the rules

in looking for the liabilities of the carrier by searching the duties

and the defences of the carrier for each good.

I) What is the contract “Carriage of Goods by Sea?”

Firstly, we have to check whether the case is governed by “the

carriage of goods by sea”, or not and Secondly, whether Simpsons and

Thowers satisfy all the conditions of Carriage of Goods by Sea. When

we are looking at the definition of the contract, the contract

stipulates that:

( JCT Chuah, 7-01, p201)

* The contract of carriage must be covered by a bill of lading or

any similar document of title.

* The carriage of goods is from a port in a contracting state.

In the case, we know that the contract was covered by two bills of

lading. They used one bill of lading for each product. The damage

happened during the carrying which means during the application of the

Act. As a consequence, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 does

apply.

In the second part, we will see if the Hague Visby rules apply in the

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... middle of paper ...

...Wright) affirmed the decision

that : “the owners were liable whether the master was negligent or

not, the ship was Unseaworthy and the Unseaworthiness was a cause of

the damage.

Conclusion

Obviously, the carrier has breached his duties in the first and the

second contract.

The defence of the carrier does not bring enough objections to acquit

Simpsons Ltd. He is therefore liable for the loss of the five

containers of engine parts and the damage of 1,000 gallons paint.

Bibliography

Colinvaux, R. (1971). Carver’s carriage by sea. London: Stevens &

sons.

Hardy Ivamy, E. R. (1977). Casebook on carriage by sea. London:

Lloyd’s of London press Ltd.

JCT Chuah.(2001). Law of International Trade, 2nd Edition. Thomson,

Sweet and Maxwell.

Strevens, C. (2005). International trade Law. Handout