2^nd Semester

Carriage of goods from the seller’s country to the buyer’s country is an important part of any international sale transaction. While carriage by sea is a much used mode of transporting goods other forms of unimodal transport – air, rail and road – are widely used depending on the type of cargo and geographic location of the exporter and the importer. The responsibilities and liabilities of transportation involving these different modes of transportation have been regulated by various conventions and this module will examine the various regimes:  Warsaw regime and Montreal Convention for air, Convention of Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) for road and Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM)) for rail. Other than examining unimodal transport regimes,  this module will also focus on  the use of  multimodal transport (that is door-to-door transportation using a combination of modes of transportation) and examine the legal challenges faced where such transportation is used and the current legal framework  derived from standard forms issued by trade associations and the International Chamber of Commerce in the absence of a convention that is yet to come into force.

International Carriage of Goods by Sea

This module aims to provide students with an advanced understanding of the various legal issues affecting international carriage of goods by modes other than sea. By satisfying the module learning outcomes students will have demonstrated a thorough understanding of all aspects of international carriage of goods.

Knowledge and Understanding

At the end of this module, students should:

·             Be able to discuss and analyse the various international conventions applicable to transport documents involving carriage by air, road, rail and multimodal transport;

·             Have a good understanding of the difficult legal issues that arise in transport contracts including that of multimodal transport and how these are resolved using international conventions;

·             Be able to understand the characteristics of transport contracts like airway bills, consignment notes and multimodal bills of lading;

·             Be able to understand the specific issues surrounding and how international organisations have addressed these issues through provisions in model laws, voluntary rules and international conventions such as the Warsaw Convention, Montreal Convention, CMR and CIM and the Multimodal Transport Convention

Skills

At the end of the module, students should have furthered their command of the following skills so that they have the ability to:

·             carry out research on a  legal topic and use a variety of electronic and paper sources

·             evaluate the methodological and ideological credence of those sources

·             critically evaluate law and  policy

·             appraise the impact of new law

·             construct a principled argument and to critically evaluate the arguments of others

·             develop independence in thought and argument and the confidence to question their own views

·             design proposals for new policy and law and to assess the practical impact of such proposals

·             Types of Transport Contracts found in carriage by other modes and Multimodal Carriage

·             Carriage by Air – The Warsaw Regime and Montreal Convention;

·             Carriage by Road - CMR

·             Carriage by Rail – CIM

·             ICC Rules on Multimodal Transport, UNCTAD Convention of Multimodal Transport, BIFA Standard Trading Conditions for Multimodal Transport

8 x 3-hour seminars.  The seminars will be interactive and students will be expected to come prepared for the seminar and engage actively in discussions