Description

The Bills of Lading Act, in the UK perhaps better known as the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992, is the successor of a nineteenth century Act, the Bills of Lading Act 1855. It regulates the transfer of rights and obligations in certain contracts for the carriage of goods by sea, giving the lawful holder of a transferable bill of lading or the consignee of a sea waybill statutory rights of suit against the carrier. At the same time, the Act burdens the lawful holder with the obligations under that contract.

This seminar deals with the Act in general, e.g. why do we need such an Act in the first place, and how does the Act relate to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, but also with some very specific questions, e.g. what is the position of the straight bill of lading under the Act, what happens if the lawful holder merely acts as an agent, and what is the meaning of “endorsement and delivery”?

The speaker intends to tackle these questions in a practical fashion. The seminar will feature a discussion of the case law classics on the Act, such as the recent English Court of Appeal judgment in The Erin Schulte [2014] EWCA Civ 1382 and others, such as The Cherry [2002] SGHC 68; Bandung Shipping Pte Ltd v Keppel Tatlee Bank Ltd [2002] SGCA 46; East West Corp v DKBS 1912 and AKTS Svendborg [2003] EWCA Civ 83; The Berge Sisar [2002] 2 AC 205; The Raphaela S [2005] UKHL 11; and UCO Bank v Golden Shore Transportation Pte Ltd [2005] SGCA 42.

About The Speaker

Dr Michiel Spanjaart was a Postdoctoral Fellow at NUS from August 2013 to July 2015 and will be an MPA Visiting Professor of Maritime Law at NUS in August 2015, teaching an intensive elective course on Multimodal Transport Law. He obtained his LLB at the University of Utrecht in 1996 and his PhD at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, in 2012. His thesis, Vorderingsrechten uit cognossement (“Title to sue under bills of lading”) was published by Paris Uitgeverij, in 2012.

Michiel commenced practice as a lawyer with Kernkamp Advocaten in Rotterdam, and has been an attorney in Rotterdam ever since, practising in firms with a focus on international trade, transport and insurance. He remains an advocate and advisor with Kneppelhout & Korthals Advocaten, where he was a partner until June 2013. Michiel’s work has been published in various journals; most recently he wrote “The surrender of the bill of lading ‘duly endorsed’” (2014) 20 JIML 327 and “Endorsement, delivery, possession and holdership” (2015) 21 JIML 18. He is currently engaged on writing a book on Multimodal Transport Law.

Who Should Attend

Lawyers, In-house counsel and legal officers working in the maritime industry and in commercial trade, ship owners, banks and financial institutions, traders, charterers, forwarders and those handling claims arising in maritime and commercial contexts.