Bills of Lading
Statutes
BILLS OF LADING ACT 1855
C A P. CXI.
An Act to amend the Law relating to Bills of Lading. [14th August 1855.]
‘Whereas by the Custom of Merchants a Bill of Lading of Goods being transferable by Endorsement the Property in the Goods may thereby pass to the Endorsee, but nevertheless all Rights in respect of the Contract contained in the Bill of Lading continue in the original Shipper or Owner, and it is expedient that such Rights should pass with the Property: And whereas it frequently happens that the Goods in respect of which Bills of Lading purport to be signed have not been laden on board, and it is proper that such Bills of Lading in the Hands of a bonâ fide Holder for Value should not be questioned by the Master or other Person signing the same on the Ground of the Goods not having been laden as aforesaid:’ Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
Rights under Bills of Lading to vest in Consignee or Endorsee.
I. Every Consignee of Goods named in a Bill of Lading, and every Endorsee of a Bill of Lading to whom the Property in the Goods therein mentioned shall pass, upon or by reason of such Consignment or Endorsement, shall have transferred to and vested in him all Rights of Suit, and be subject to the same Liabilities in respect of such Goods as if the Contract contained in the Bill of Lading had been made with himself.
Not to affect Right of Stoppage in transitu or Claims for Freight.
II. Nothing herein contained shall prejudice or affect any Right of Stoppage in transitu, or any Right to claim Freight against the original Shipper or Owner, or any Liability of the Consignee or Endorsee by reason or in consequence of his being such Consignee or Endorsee, or of his Receipt of the Goods by reason or in consequence of such Consignment or Endorsement.
Bill of Lading in Hands of Consignee, &c. conclusive Evidence of Shipment as against Master, &c.
Proviso.
III. Every Bill of Lading in the Hands of a Consignee or Endorsee for valuable Consideration representing Goods to have been shipped on board a Vessel shall be conclusive Evidence of such Shipment as against the Master or other Person signing the same, notwithstanding that such Goods or some Part thereof may not have been so shipped, unless such Holder of the Bill of Lading shall have had actual Notice at the Time of receiving the same that the Goods had not been in fact laden on board: Provided, that the Master or other Person so signing may exonerate himself in respect of such Misrepresentation by showing that it was caused without any Default on his Part, and wholly by the Fraud of the Shipper, or of the Holder, or some Person under whom the Holder claims.
Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 (UK Act)
The Whole Act
50
An Act to replace the Bills of Lading Act 1855 with new provision
with respect to bills of lading and certain other shipping
documents. [16th July 1992]
B E IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with
the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows: —
1.—.(1) This Act applies to the following documents, that is to say—
(a) any bill of lading;
(b) any sea waybill; and
(c) any ship’s delivery order.
(2) References in this Act to a bill of lading—
(a) do not include references to a document which is incapable of
transfer either by indorsement or, as a bearer bill, by delivery
without indorsement; but
(b) subject to that, do include references to a received for shipment
bill of lading.
(3) References in this Act to a sea waybill are references to any
document which is not a bill of lading but(a)
is such a receipt for goods as contains or evidences a contract for
the carriage of goods by sea; and
(b) identifies the person to whom delivery of the goods is to be made
by the carrier in accordance with that contract.
(4) References in this Act to a ship’s delivery order are references to
any document which is neither a bill of lading nor a sea waybill but
contains an undertaking which—
Shipping
documents etc. to
which Act applies.
(a) is given under or for the purposes of a contract for the carriage
by sea of the goods to which the document relates, or of goods
which include those goods; and
(b) is an undertaking by the carrier to a person identified in the
document to deliver the goods to which the document relates to
that person.
(5) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for the
application of this Act to cases where a telecommunication system or any
other information technology is used for effecting transactions
corresponding to—
(a) the issue of a document to which this Act applies;
(b) the indorsement, delivery or other transfer of such a document;
or
(c) the doing of anything else in relation to such a document.
(6) Regulations under subsection (5) above may—
(a) make such modifications of the following provisions of this Act
as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in connection
with the application of this Act to any case mentioned in that
subsection; and
(b) contain supplemental, incidental, consequential and transitional
provision;
and the power to make regulations under that subsection shall be
exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of
a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Rights under 2.—(l) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a person who
shipping becomes
documents.
(a) the lawful holder of a bill of lading;
(b) the person who (without being an original party to the contract
of carriage) is the person to whom delivery of the goods to which
a sea waybill relates is to be made by the carrier in accordance
with that contract; or
(c) the person to whom delivery of the goods to which a ship’s
delivery order relates is to be made in accordance with the
undertaking contained in the order,
shall (by virtue of becoming the holder of the bill or, as the case may be,
the person to whom delivery is to be made) have transferred to and vested
in him all rights of suit under the contract of carriage as if he had been a
party to that contract.
(2) Where, when a person becomes the lawful holder of a bill of lading,
possession of the bill no longer gives a right (as against the carrier) to
possession of the goods to which the bill relates, that person shall not have
any rights transferred to him by virtue of subsection (1) above unless he
becomes the holder of the bill—
(a) by virtue of a transaction effected in pursuance of any
contractual or other arrangements made before the time when
such a right to possession ceased to attach to possession of the
bill; or
(b) as a result of the rejection to that person by another person of
goods or documents delivered to the other person in pursuance
of any such arrangements.
(3) The rights vested in any person by virtue of the operation of
subsection (1) above in relation to a ship’s delivery order—
(a) shall be so vested subject to the terms of the order; and
(b) where the goods to which the order relates form a part only of
the goods to which the contract of carriage relates, shall be
confined to rights in respect of the goods to which the order
relates.
(4) Where, in the case of any document to which this Act applies—
(a) a person with any interest or right in or in relation to goods to
which the document relates sustains loss or damage in
consequence of a breach of the contract of carriage; but
(b) subsection (1) above operates in relation to that document so
that rights of suit in respect of that breach are vested in another
person,
the other person shall be entitled to exercise those rights for the benefit of
the person who sustained the loss or damage to the same extent as they
could have been exercised if they had been vested in the person for whose
benefit they are exercised.
(5) Where rights are transferred by ‘virtue of the operation of
subsection (1) above in relation to any document, the transfer for which
that subsection provides shall extinguish any entitlement to those rights
which derives—
(a) where that document is a bill of lading, from a person’s having
been an original party to the contract of carriage; or
(b) in the case of any document to which this Act applies, from the
previous operation of that subsection in relation to that
document;
but the operation of that subsection shall be without prejudice to any
rights which derive from a person’s having been an original party to the
contract contained in, or evidenced by, a sea waybill and, in relation to
a ship’s delivery order, shall be without prejudice to any rights deriving
otherwise than from the previous operation of that subsection in relation
to that order.
3.—(l) Where subsection (1) of section 2 of this Act operates in relation Liabilities under
to any document to which this Act applies and the person in whom rights shipping
are vested by virtue of that subsection— documents.
(a) takes or demands delivery from the carrier of any of the goods to
which the document relates;
(b) makes a claim under the contract of carriage against the carrier
in respect of any of those goods; or
(c) is a person who, at a time before those rights were vested in him,
took or demanded delivery from the carrier of any of those
goods,
that person shall (by virtue of taking or demanding delivery or making the
claim or, in a case falling within paragraph (c) above, of having the rights
vested in him) become subject to the same liabilities under that contract
as if he had been a party to that contract.
(2) Where the goods to which a ship’s delivery order relates form a part
only of the goods to which the contract of carriage relates, the liabilities
to which any person is subject by virtue of the operation of this section in
relation to that order shall exclude liabilities in respect of any goods to
which the order does not relate.
(3) This section, so far as it imposes liabilities under any contract on
any person, shall be without prejudice to the liabilities under the contract
of any person as an original party to the contract.
Representations in 4. A bill of lading which—
bills of lading. (a) represents goods to have been shipped on board a vessel or to
have been received for shipment on board a vessel; and
(b) has been signed by the master of the vessel or by a person who
was not the master but had the express, implied or apparent
authority of the carrier to sign bills of lading,
shall, in favour of a person who has become the lawful holder of the bill,
be conclusive evidence against the carrier of the shipment of the goods or,
as the case may be, of their receipt for shipment.
Interpretation etc. 5.—(l) In this Act—
“bill of lading”, “sea waybill” and “ship’s delivery order” shall be
construed in accordance with section 1 above;
“the contract of carriage” —
(a) in relation to a bill of lading or sea waybill, means the
contract contained in or evidenced by that bill or waybill; and
(b) in relation to a ship’s delivery order, means the
contract under or for the purposes of which the undertaking
contained in the order is given;
“holder”, in relation to a bill of lading, shall be construed in
accordance with subsection (2) below;
“information technology” includes any computer or other
technology by means of which information or other matter may
be recorded or communicated without being reduced to
documentary form; and
“telecommunication system” has the same meaning as in the
1984 c. 12. Telecommunications Act 1984.
(2) References in this Act to the holder of a bill of lading are references
to any of the following persons, that is to say—
(a) a person with possession of the bill who, by virtue of being the
person identified in the bill, is the consignee of the goods to
which the bill relates;
(b) a person with possession of the bill as a result of the completion,
by delivery of the bill, of any indorsement of the bill or , in the
case of a bearer bill, of any other transfer of the bill;
(c) a person with possession of the bill as a result of any transaction
by virtue of which he would have become a holder falling within
paragraph (a) or (b) above had not the transaction been effected
at a time when possession of the bill no longer gave a right (as
against the carrier) to possession of the goods to which the bill
relates;
and a person shall be regarded for the purposes of this Act as having
become the lawful holder of a bill of lading wherever he has become the
holder of the bill in good faith.
(3) References in this Act to a person’s being identified in a document
include references to his being identified by a description which allows for
the identity of the person in question to be varied, in accordance with the
terms of the document, after its issue; and the reference in section 1 (3)(b)
of this Act to a document’s identifying a person shall be construed
accordingly.
(4) Without prejudice to sections 2(2) and 4 above, nothing in this Act
shall preclude its operation in relation to a case where the goods to which
a document relates—
(a) cease to exist after the issue of the document; or
(b) cannot be identified (whether because they are mixed with other
goods or for any other reason);
and references in this Act to the goods to which a document relates shall
be construed accordingly.
(5) The preceding provisions of this Act shall have effect without
prejudice to the application, in relation to any case, of the rules (the
Hague-Visby Rules) which for the time being have the force of law by
virtue of section 1 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971. 1971 c. 19.
6. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992. Short title, repeal,
commencement (2) The Bills of Lading Act 1855 is hereby repealed. and extent.
(3) This Act shall come into force at the end of the period of two 1855 c. 111.
months beginning with the day on which it is passed; but nothing in this
Act shall have effect in relation to any document issued before the coming
into force of this Act.
(4) This Act extends to Northern Ireland.