Lex Maritima in a Changing World:
Development and Prospect of Rules
Governing Carriage of Goods by Sea
Lijun Zhao
Abstract This chapter examines the attempts to unifying law governing carriage of
goods by sea and the background to these attempts over the past hundred years or
so. It finds that a repetition of the current mode of negotiating static conventions will
not unify these rules. Moreover, from historic and legal perspectives, the attempts to
unify the international carriage of goods by sea regimes in the past century have
remained transitional. The active players have shifted from private entrepreneurs to
government delegates. This research probes into the new trade practice for the
shipping industry in the twenty-first century and argues that new ‘landscape’ calls
for innovative modifications of the conventional approach to unifying carriage of
goods by sea rules. This research also forecasts the prospects of the Rotterdam Rules
and discusses several countries’ current attitudes, including the UK, the Netherlands,
Scandinavian countries and, particularly, the USA.
1 Introduction
Maritime law has a long tradition of international uniformity. As stated in a Report of
the Comité Maritime International (CMI), “[T]he existence of Lex Maritima comprising a complex of internationally accepted rules of maritime law which may be
traced in particular back to usage and general principles is widely, and even
increasingly, subscribed to by legal doctrine.”
1 The lex maritima, evolving from
ancient custom and usage has exerted a profound influence on the development of
maritime law over the past millennia. The international community has attempted to
unify the rules governing carriage of goods by sea since the late nineteenth century,
through the adoption of international conventions. While it is conceded that in recent
times advancement has decelerated somewhat, this chapter proposes to examine the
L. Zhao (*)
School of Law, Middlesex University, London, UK
e-mail: L.Zhao@mdx.ac.uk
1 CMI (1997).
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_37
761
Development and Prospect of Rules
Governing Carriage of Goods by Sea
Lijun Zhao
Abstract This chapter examines the attempts to unifying law governing carriage of
goods by sea and the background to these attempts over the past hundred years or
so. It finds that a repetition of the current mode of negotiating static conventions will
not unify these rules. Moreover, from historic and legal perspectives, the attempts to
unify the international carriage of goods by sea regimes in the past century have
remained transitional. The active players have shifted from private entrepreneurs to
government delegates. This research probes into the new trade practice for the
shipping industry in the twenty-first century and argues that new ‘landscape’ calls
for innovative modifications of the conventional approach to unifying carriage of
goods by sea rules. This research also forecasts the prospects of the Rotterdam Rules
and discusses several countries’ current attitudes, including the UK, the Netherlands,
Scandinavian countries and, particularly, the USA.
1 Introduction
Maritime law has a long tradition of international uniformity. As stated in a Report of
the Comité Maritime International (CMI), “[T]he existence of Lex Maritima comprising a complex of internationally accepted rules of maritime law which may be
traced in particular back to usage and general principles is widely, and even
increasingly, subscribed to by legal doctrine.”
1 The lex maritima, evolving from
ancient custom and usage has exerted a profound influence on the development of
maritime law over the past millennia. The international community has attempted to
unify the rules governing carriage of goods by sea since the late nineteenth century,
through the adoption of international conventions. While it is conceded that in recent
times advancement has decelerated somewhat, this chapter proposes to examine the
L. Zhao (*)
School of Law, Middlesex University, London, UK
e-mail: L.Zhao@mdx.ac.uk
1 CMI (1997).
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_37
761