The Hague-Visby Rules is a set of international rules for the international carriage of goods by sea. The official title is "International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading" and was drafted in Brussels in 1924. After being amended by the Brussels Amendments (officially the "Protocol to Amend the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading") in 1968, the Rules became known as the Hague-Visby Rules. A final amendment was made in the SDR Protocol in 1979.

The premise of the Hague-Visby Rules (and of the earlier English Common Law) is that a carrier has far greater bargaining power than the shipper; and that to protect the interests of the shipper/cargo-owner, the law should impose minimum obligations upon the carrier.

Implementing legislation [edit]

The Hague-Visby Rules were incorporated into English law by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971; and English lawyers should note the provisions of the statute as well as the text of the rules. For instance, although Article I(c) of the Rules exempts live animals and deck cargo, section 1(7) restores those items into the category of "goods". Also, although Article III(4) declares a bill of lading to be a mere "prima facie evidence of the receipt by the carrier of the goods", the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 section 4 upgrades a bill of lading to be "conclusive evidence of receipt".

Under Article X, the Rules apply if ("a) the bill of lading is issued in a contracting State, or (b) the carriage is from a port in a contracting State, or (c) the contract (of carriage) provides that(the) Rules ... are to govern the contract". If the Rules apply, the entire text of Rules is incorporated into the contract of carriage, and any attempt to exclude the Rules is void under Article III (8).

The Carrier's Duties [edit]

Under the Rules, the carrier's main duties are to "properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for, and discharge the goods carried" and to "exercise due diligence to ... make the ship seaworthy" and to "... properly man, equip and supply the ship". It is implicit (from the common law) that the carrier must not deviate from the agreed route nor from the usual route; but Article IV(4) provides that "any deviation in saving or attempting to save life or property at sea or any reasonable deviation shall not be deemed to be an infringement or breach of these Rules".

The carrier's duties are not "strict", but require only a reasonable standard of professionalism and care; and Article IV allows the carrier a wide range of situations exempting them from liability on a cargo claim. These exemptions include destruction or damage to the cargo caused by: fire, perils of the sea, Act of God, & Act of war. A controversial provision exempts the carrier from liability for "neglect or default of the master ... in the navigation or in the management of the ship". This provision is considered unfair to the shipper; and both the later Hamburg Rules and Rotterdam Rules refuse exemption for negligent navigation and management.

Also, whereas the Hague-Visby Rules require a ship to be seaworthy only "before and at the beginning" of the voyage, under the Rotterdam Rules the carrier will have to keep the ship seaworthy throughout the voyage (although this new duty will be to a reasonable standard that is subject the circumstances of being at sea).

The Shipper's Duties [edit]

By contrast, the shipper has fewer obligations (mostly implicit), namely: (i) to pay freight; (ii) to pack the goods sufficiently for the journey; (iii) to describe the goods honestly and accurately; (iv) not to ship dangerous cargoes (unless agreed by both parties); and (v) to have the goods ready for shipment as agreed; (q.v."notice of readiness to load").

Ratifications [edit]

A list of ratifications and denouncements of the 3 conventions is shown below:

Country	1924	1968	1979	Comments
Algeria	Active
Angola	Active
Antigua and Barbuda	Active
Argentina	Active
Australia	Denounced		Active
Bahamas	Active
Barbados	Active
Belgium	Active	Active	Active
Belize	Active
Bolivia	Active
Cameroon	Active
Cape Verde	Active
China	Active	Active		Hong Kong and Macao (1924) only
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Active
Croatia	Active	Active	Active
Côte d'Ivoire	Active
Cuba	Active
Cyprus	Active
Denmark	Denounced	Active	Active
Dominica	Active
Egypt	Active	Denounced
Ecuador	Active	Active
Fiji	Active
Finland	Denounced	Active	Active
France	Active	Active	Active
Gambia	Active
Georgia		Active
Germany[1]	Active
German Democratic Republic [2]	Active		Active
Goa[3]	Active
Greece			Active
Grenada	Active
Guinea-Bissau	Active
Guyana	Active
Hungary	Active
Iran	Active
Ireland	Active
Israel	Active
Italy	Denounced	Active	Active
Jamaica	Active
Japan	Denounced		Active
Kenya	Active
Kiribati	Active
Kuwait	Active
Latvia	Active	Active	Active
Lebanon	Denounced	Denounced
Lithuania	Active	Active	Active
Luxembourg			Active
Madagascar	Active
Malaysia	Active
Mauritius	Active
Mexico			Active
Monaco	Active
Mozambique	Active
Nauru	Active
Netherlands	Denounced	Active	Active	European Territory and Aruba (1968)
New Zealand			Active
Nigeria	Active
Norway	Denounced	Active	Active
Palestine[4]	Active
Papua New Guinea	Active
Paraguay	Denounced
Peru	Active
Poland	Active	Active	Active
Portugal	Active
Romania	Denounced
Russia			Active
Sarawak (North Borneo)[5]	Active
Saint Christopher and Nevis	Active
Saint Lucia	Active
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Denounced
São Tomé and Príncipe	Active
Sarawak[5]	Active
Senegal	Active
Seychelles	Active
Sierra Leone	Active
Singapore	Active	Active
Somalia	Active
Slovenia	Active
Solomon Islands	Active
Spain			Active[6]
Sri Lanka	Active	Active
Sweden	Denounced	Active	Active
Switzerland	Active	Active	Active
Syria	Active	Active
Tanganyika[7]	Active
Timor[8]	Active
Tonga	Active	Active
Trinidad and Tobago	Active
Turkey	Active
Tuvalu	Active
United Kingdom	Denounced	Active	Active
United States	Active
Yugoslavia	Active

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Full text of the 1924 convention, 1968 and 1979 protocols.
• Signatures and ratifications of the original convention, as well as the 1968 and 1979 protocols (in French).
• Admiralty Law Guide has a brief discussion with useful links