로테르담 규칙에 있어서 운송물처분권에 관한 법적 쟁점

Abstract

The right of control of the goods means the right under the contract of carriage to give the carrier instructions in respect of the goods in accordance with chapter 10 under the Rotterdam Rules. Chapter 10 provides that under the transport law, a person with certain rights in the goods may have constructive possession of them, and such constructive possession, if needed, can be turned into actual possession. The right of control may be unilaterally exercised by the controlling party, even in the cases of an early delivery or a change of consignee that must be regarded as a variation to the contract of carriage. Such instructions must fit in the normal operations of the carrier. The controlling party is the party interested in the goods during the carriage. The chapeau of the first paragraph of Article 50 in the Rotterdam Rules makes it clear that the controlling party is the excusive person entitled to exercise a right of control. But, unless it is also the shipper, it is not a party to the contract of carriage pursuant to the provisions of the he Rotterdam Rules. On the other hand, the controlling party may, for all practical purposes, act as the counter-party of the carrier during the transport. The Rotterdam Rules provide that possessing the right of control and holding the bill of lading are no longer necessarily linked. The provisions on the right of control also apply when no document is issued for the carriage involved. In other words, possession of a negotiable document and possession of certain rights in the goods have been decoupled. Today, instant communication is possible to and all corners of the world, including to carriers in actual control of goods in transit. This means that, for all practical purposes, a document as a symbol of goods is no longer necessary. This is precisely what the new rules the Rotterdam Rules do in chapter 10- it legally paves the way for document-free maritime transport. This paper deals with each subparagraph with the text of the article on the right of control of the goods under the Rotterdam Rules, followed by explanatory notes.