Greetings and happy spring to all
of you in the Northern hemisphere. Humans aren’t the only things that suffer in
the cold…
Freeze!
Jacobus Bracker, our Forwarderlaw
member for Germany, writes about an interesting recent case involving carriage
of temperature sensitive medical products by truck from England to Germany
determined under the CMR. There, the defendant carrier argued that it could not
be held responsible for damages arising from loss, in spite of its negligence in
allowing the cargo to be stolen. The reason: the theft did not cause the
damage (within the meaning of the CMR) because at the time of theft the goods
had already spoiled and were valueless! To see if they were able to persuade the
Court, click here:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=500
Spanish Supreme Court Strikes
Back at Ships Agents
Felipe Arizon, Forwarderlaw
member for Spain, discusses a recent decision of the civil section of the
Spanish Supreme Court that focussed on whether Ship’s Agents can be made to
respond to claims for damage to goods. For the results of this contest between
liability imposed by the 1885 Commercial Code and the more recent tendency of
Courts to enforce contractual exemptions, you will have to follow this
link:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=498
LEI v Canada
Garlic
Editor Emeritus Peter F.M. Jones
comments on a recent decision of the Federal Court of Canada in which a
forwarder was granted summary judgment in respect of amounts invoiced and owing
in respect of freight and related charges in spite of a large outstanding claim
for damage to goods proceeding separately in Superior Court and in which the
forwarder was a defendant. By reference in its quotes, waybills, and invoices,
the forwarder had adopted the Standard Trading Conditions of the national
industry group, the Canadian International Freight Forwarders’ Association
(CIFFA). Ultimately, the forwarder was successful in enforcing those STC’s,
which included a clause requiring payment of all charges in full without
set-off. The successful forwarder was represented by Forwarderlaw Editor Gavin
Magrath. To read more about the case, click here:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=504
Election in Claims
Handling
There’s nothing like an election
to make things exciting. Consider, for example, the situation where an innocent
party is presented with a repudiatory breach of contract: is it better to elect
to end the contract, discharging both parties, or to maintain the contract and
require continuing performance in spite of the breach? Paul Budgen, our member
for the UK, comments here:
http://www.forwarderlaw.com/library/view.php?article_id=501
AHP v DHL
This is a seminal Irish case with
humble beginnings: a small non-conveyable package fell off a forklift (or
similar device) while being transported within the airport and was subsequently
crushed by another passing cargo vehicle. The plaintiff claimed the full value
of the consignment, being DM1,800,000 (Ed Note: the DM is a prehistoric currency
equivalent to about 0.5 Euros) setting off a dispute about whether the carrier’s
conduct was reckless within the meaning of the Warsaw convention and, in turn,
about how Irish law will interpret and apply international conventions. For the
full article by Helen Noble, our member for Ireland, click here: