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Due to the fact that no attempt to create uniform law for multimodal carriage
has as yet met with success, transport law has no adequate means to create
certainty as to the legal consequences of any loss, damage or delay of cargo
resulting from multimodal carriage contracts. A fragmented, complex and
inconsistent liability patchwork – which involves regional, subregional and
national laws usually focused on unimodal transport, supplemented by
contractual standard rules created by the industry – serves as an
international liability framework. The consequence of this state of affairs is
that the applicable liability rules vary greatly from case to case and give
rise to uncertainty concerning the extent of a multimodal carrier’s liability
in a given situation. Indeed, according to a 2003 UNCTAD survey, most parties
involved in the transport industry do not consider the existing legal
framework for multimodal transportation to be satisfactory or even
cost-effective.
Now, progressing through an in-depth analysis of the exact nature of the
international multimodal carriage contract, this important study assesses how
the most advantageous law applicable to a multimodal contract may be
uncovered. Using the ideas, legislation and case law on multimodal carriage in
the legal systems of Germany, The Netherlands and England to anchor her
presentation, the author offers a thorough investigation of the existing
framework of carriage law, the applicable rules of private international law,
and the options provided by choice of law based on contractual conditions. In
the course of the analysis all essential issues are scrutinized, including the
following:
• whether the modes of transport to be used may be left open by the contract;
• time bars on protest and litigation and when they commence;
• carriage documentation;
• liability of the carrier for subcontractors;
• planning for ‘friction costs’;
• rules on jurisdiction and the resulting forum shopping practice;
• instances where conventions overlap, or when no existing carriage regime
applies;
• damage or loss that occurs at the point where one unimodal regime ends and
another begins;
• damage or loss brought about by multiple causes; and
• rights and obligations attached to delivery.
No comparable treatise exists on which rules may govern international
multimodal contracts for the carriage of goods and under what conditions they
will do so, and this book is thus an indispensable asset to the work of any
practitioner or official connected with international transport. In addition,
the author presents a detailed review of the various drafts and propositions
that have been on offer in recent years, and submits a well-thought-out
proposal for a set of multimodal transport rules to alleviate the difficulties
that currently plague this area of carriage law.