As my previous post was concern about the carriers. Now I get something more interesting. Today’s my post is related with contractual terms of carriage of goods. Without such a valid contractual terms the contract for carriage of goods are not valid. The parties to a contract for the carriage of passengers or goods may, with certain exceptions, incorporate in it any terms and conditions upon which they may agree. The terms and conditions of any particular contract of carriage are to be ascertained by the application of the general law of contract. The great majority of those carrying on business as carriers profess to carry only in accordance with standard terms and conditions. Standard conditions of carriage may be incorporated either by express agreement, oral or written, in which case no problem arises, or by implication, which will usually arise either where the contract is made by the issue of a ticket or other contractual document or from a course of dealing between the parties. So for a valid contract of carriage of group the parties must agree with the certain terms and standard condition. Standard condition may be incorporated orally or by agreement or in writing. But there is point the passenger or the person must aware about the terms and condition of the contract. Whether the passenger had knowledge of the terms and conditions of the contract of carriage, and whether all reasonable steps were taken to give him notice, are questions of fact. With regard to the question whether reasonable steps were taken to give notice, the passenger is not entitled to rely on his illiteracy, for the carrier is entitled to assume that his passengers have possession of those faculties ordinarily held by human beings, and the passenger cannot contend that reasonable steps were not taken, because it would have taken him considerable time and trouble to ascertain precisely what the conditions were. But if, in the case of a special contract of carriage, the document containing the conditions is handed to the passenger at so short a time before the commencement of the journey that he has no time to examine it, there may be no communication of the conditions or no implication of their acceptance.
Where an oral contract has been concluded, further terms cannot be added by the later handing over of a receipt or other document containing them or a reference to them.
The display of a notice in the office where an oral contract is made stating that carriage is only undertaken upon certain terms may have the effect of incorporating these terms in the contract of carriage; but will do so only if the notice is effectively brought to the customer's attention.
Most carriage of goods by private carriers is undertaken pursuant to contract. A contract of carriage is generally negotiated between consignor and carrier but the identity of the parties to that contract will depend on the circumstances, most notably the terms of the contract of carriage and the terms of any contract between the consignor and consignee.
Where the consignor has the general property in the goods at the time of contracting and retains such property throughout the period of carriage he is normally the proper party to sue on the contract and in tort. This accords with the principle that the proper party to sue where goods are lost or damaged is the owner and that the party having property in the goods is prima facie the party with whom the contract of carriage is made.
However, the lack of property in a consignee need not be fatal to a contractual claim by him. Thus, where the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992applies, the consignee acquires right of suit on becoming the lawful holder of a bill of lading irrespective of whether he has also acquired property in the goods.
So considering the point I want to say that for a valid carriage contract it necessary to have valid and standard terms and not only that also the standard terms must be communicated to the passenger and the person who carry the goods. It is also necessary to remember that whether the reasonable steps are taken to communicate the terms or not. At last if the contract is breach by any party the damage are available. One party can sue another party under tort where goods are lost or damaged is the owner and that the party having property in the goods is prima facie the party with whom the contract of carriage is made.
For more detail as I think the links are very useful and please visit if any one want to know.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal/auth/checkbrowser.do?t=1288985327374&bhcp=1( for standard terms)
http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal/auth/checkbrowser.do?t=1288985327374&bhcp=1 ( for the clause of reasonable notice)
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