Law

The Hague-Visby Rules happens to be a group of international rules in marine that are meant control goods transportation by use of water. These rules happen to have an official title as the International Convection for Unification of Specific Rules which is associated to Bills of Landing. This Rule was drafted in 1924 in Brussels.  The rule gained its current name after it was amended in 1968 by the Visby Amendment. However, a final amendment was later done in 1979 in SDR Protocol. (Zekos, 1997)

This Rule proposes that a carrier will always have greater bargaining power than the shipper. In addition, in order to protect the cargo-ownershipper interest, the law imposes as minimal obligation to the cargo as possible. In the rule under article ten, the Rule will only apply if the bill of landing was issued in what is referred to as a contracting State, if the carriage is originating from a port which is in a contracting State, or if the contract of carriage states that the Rule is to govern the contract. This therefore means that the Rule will only apply if the contract of carriage has the entire text of Rule incorporated. Under this, it therefore happens that any omission of the Rule will be termed void under Article III (8). (Zekos, 1997)

b) It can be argued that the Rule provides a sensible basis for any of the regulation of contractual relationship that may exist between those persons that shipping their goods. This is because depending on the way that the bill is written, it can offer protection to the individuals who are transiting goods from one region to the other. For instance, with The Rafaela S Straight Bill, the bill of lading may be made to a consignee without having to add the words to order. Such a bill is usually difficult to transfer and therefore referred to as a straight bill of lading.  (Zekos, 1997)

These words are the ones which determine whether a bill of lading is transferable or no. they are the same words which determines whether the bill will be accepted as documents of title. It can therefore be argued that it is may be easier to have a basis of contractual relationship. These bills are drawn due to different reasons. For instance, a straight bill happens to be non- negotiable and they have a contractual mandate of delivering the cargo to the consignee that is named without having to produce any original document. (Zekos, 1997)

2.  
There are a number of difficulties that a claimant may face while he is persuading the court to find out whether the tort of negligence has been committed. The reason is that due to existence of different rules, it may be difficult to know whether the original documents were produced during shipment or not. For instance, the Visby Hague Rule does not provide that the straight bill of lading can be used as a document of title but we find that it is used as a document of title regularly. If there is a fault in such a case, it may be difficult for the court to judge whether it is out negligence or not. Even though there may be the tort of negligence, if the imports are equal to exports, it may become very difficult for the court to determine this because the trade balance may be unaltered.

This is further complicated by the fact that there are times when the terms of a straight bill of lading requires that the bill of lading be presented during delivery, in most cases the carrier is never under any obligation to obtain production of the original bill of lading. This is a clear sign that the bill of lading is meant to protect the carrier and therefore makes it difficult for the complaint to win the case over the career. This is the case that applied with the The Berg Sisar case. It can be argued that due to the transactions that had been done without the production of the straight bill of lading, the Bergesen were not in any grounds in a position to claim against the Borealis for alleged breach of obligation of the shipper leave alone loading dangerous cargo under the bill of lading. (Zekos, 1997)

d) The carriage of goods by Sea Act of 1992 had a difference in the international dispute in that it was aimed at replacing the Bill of Lading Act that was constituted in 1885. By the fact that this bill was enacted by the Queens most Excellent Majesty meant that this bill had more power and that it would be used by most of the sea transport operators. In addition, because it was constituted with a number of other shipping documents by the Lords Temporal, Spirituals and Commons, it was more powerful.

4.
a) It is necessary that parties to any commercial contract have a clear understanding of the distinction between conditions and in nominate terms because, there are times when a party may need to lodge a complaint concerning an activity. Some of these terms and conditions may be standing on the way of the complainants concern and therefore if one does not fully understand the difference between the conditions that exists and the in nominate terms, it may be difficult to complain or even to deal with the other operators on a safe ground. This is because, it may be very difficult to tell whether there is a breach of contract or not and how to deal with it. (Zekos, 1997)

b) The main aim of remedies of breach of contract is to ensure that people who are in operation follow what they agree on. There are situations where people will fail to keep their end of the bargain and this is where the remedies apply. They are the ones that are used to deal with these people. In addition, they are used to discourage people from taking part in breaching the contract as they know what the consequences are for breaching the contract. This ensures that the business is running smoothly and that there are few disputes to deal with.

Most of the remedies are still and the main reason for this is that people will be discouraged by what they will face if they breach the contract. Among the main remedies that are proposed is the withdrawal of the contract, the termination of the contract or even charging the person who have breached the contract in court. This is known to have a very negative effect on all the people who thinks of doing this later.  Most remedies are made by the policy makers that are in the organizations that will be involved the transactions that will be covered by the contract.

c) English law is so often the chosen applicable international law because first it is on this land that the first laws were constituted. In additional all the other laws may be said to have originated from this law. Since they originated from the queens land, it is obvious that the English law will be adopted. The Arbitration Act is the one that made the English Law to come into being but in the United Kingdom. The law is commonly used in the international trade contract because arbitration happens to be very common practice in the trade. The player in the trade find this law very convenient to them as it protects the cargo and the ship and this is another reason why most companies put it in practice in most parts of the world. (Zekos, 1997)
In addition, it is difficult to stay with people and fail to have disputes. This law is said to protect and help the key players to deal with any form of dispute that may be experienced in the sea transport business. Most of those players are said to put this law in practice while solving their disputes because they view the law as being universal and applicable to most cases. The law is termed as impartial as compared to all the other  laws such as the one that were passed by the United States and France which were known to promote the use of adjudication because they claimed that the judicial system was inefficient. This law is known to solve these problems. (Zekos, 1997)

1 Contractual notice and their importance

A contractual notice is a written agreement concerning an activity that is to happen in the future. They are important in that they are prove that some different parties had came into an agreement concerning some future activity that they intend to do. It also acts as a reminder of some future activities that needs to be done. (Zekos, 1997)

aa) Arbitration clause
I would advice parties to include an arbitration clause in their contract as an issue may come up which does not require the parties to go to court. When such an issue arises, it would be a great idea to deal with it outside the court and this can only be done if an arbitration clause exists.

(cc) Mediation
The reason as to why some parties may require mediation is the fact that they have failed to come to an agreement. This is because both parties have a feeling that they are compromising. After mediation, the two parties usually come to an agreement. For there to be a solution which is usually the reason for mediation, each of the parties involved must compromise and therefore it is difficult to say that there is a party that won after a mediation. (Zekos, 1997)

12) Trade opinion and peer pressure forms soft law in international trade
The law can never be done away with but it is usually bent so that some parties can be able to operate the way they want. This is all as a result of peer pressure and trade opinions. Parties are known to come up with their individual laws which will cater for their needs when they are operating. This is as a result of sitting down and sharing opinions. Others do so because they counterpart are doing the same and this may be referred to as peer pressure. These new laws may be referred to as soft laws and they are formed out of peer pressure and trade opinions. (Zekos, 1997)

Parties should expect that the Hague Visby Rule will apply in case there is a dispute where there is a straight bill of landing. The reason is that this rule is supposed to protect the carriage and at the same time protect the owner of the ship. This means that in case there is a dispute between these two, it is only this rule that will solve the case.

The Hague, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules
These two rules are meant to be universal rules. However, their strength depends on the magnitude of the dispute that has taken place. In addition, it also depends on the region where it has taken place. This means that even though the three regimes may be in force, they are no international universality because each dispute will be dealt with differently from each region. There are also some situations where there are some overriding laws between all the three regimes and this brings more conflict. (Zekos, 1997)

Suing a defendant for breach of contract
It is easier for a defendant to sue for breach of contract rather than to sue for negligence. The reason is that due to the laws that exist in the sea transport, it may be very difficult to prove that there was a tort of negligence committed in the case. The reason is that there is no specific law that requires production of document on delivery of cargo. It would therefore be easier to sue a party of breach of contract which is easier to prove than to sue of negligence.

12. To what extent do trade opinion and peer pressure form soft law in international trade
This question is similar to one already answered above numbered as 12 Trade opinion and peer pressure forms soft law in international trade.

22.   Would you advise a part to a contract to incorporate an arbitration agreement into it This question is similar to another one which has been answered above numbers as 1 aa Arbitration clause.

223. Role of the bill of lading in modern
In modern days, the bill of landing has been in use as a register in the loading books. It is usually used vital and fundamental document of commerce and international trade. It is indispensable to the financing and conduct of business which involves the sales and then transportation of goods between parties that are located far from each other. (Zekos, 1997)