Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM067: Carriage of Goods by Sea

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Aims

The aim of the module is to provide you with a comprehensive introduction to the law and practice of carriage of goods by sea, explaining the types and significance of charterparties, the role of bills of lading, the duties of the parties to a contract of carriage and the operation of international regimes, including the Hague Rules, the Hague Visby Rules, the Hamburg Rules and the Rotterdam Rules.

Carriage of goods by sea has been developed by the interaction of numerous judicial decisions, market practices and attempts to harmonise the law through international convention. There are many different forms of charterparties in use, and the course will examine which are used and in what circumstances. One of the key issues is to examine the various rights and responsibilities that exist between owners and charterers, and between the carrier and the shipper. Also, as the law in this area combines case law and statutory law, during the LLM year you will be expected to understand and digest both case law and written law and the connections between them.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate a detailed and systematic knowledge of the operation of bills of lading and charterparties, and the relationship between them;
2. Demonstrate a detailed and systematic knowledge of the rights and liabilities arising under a contract of carriage;
3. Advise accurately and comprehensively on the operation of international rules for the carriage of goods by sea, and critically assess the advantages and disadvantages of the various different regimes.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Demonstrate detailed and comprehensive understanding of the interaction of the complex web of case law, standard form contracts, shipping documents and international conventions.
5. Demonstrate flexible capacity to analyse the operation of the different forms of contract of carriage, the problems that may arise from them and to advise on the outcome of disputes between owner and charterer.
Personal and Key Skills6. Communicate key legal concepts to both legal and market audiences effectively, confidently and autonomously, orally and in writing;
7. Identify, retrieve and use the full range of library-based and electronic resources efficiently and autonomously.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

John Wilson, Carriage of Goods by Sea, 7th ed, Pearson/Longman, 2010

Martin Dockray, Cases and Materials on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 3rd ed, Routledge-Cavendish,2004,

John Schofield, Laytime and Demurrage, 6th ed, LLP, 2011

Julian Cooke et al, Voyage Charters, 4rd ed, Informa, 2014

Terence Coghlin et al, Time Charters, 7th ed, Informa Law from Routledge, 2015

Charles Debattista et al, The Rotterdam Rules: A Practical Annotation, Informa, 2009

Richard Aikens et al, Bills of Lading, Informa Law from Routledge, 2005

Sir Bernard Eder et al, Scrutton on Charterparties and Bills of Lading, 22nd ed, Sweet & Maxwell, 2011