Research on the Legal Nature of Bill of Lading (BOL) in International Cargo Transportation

Abstract

have similar but different provisions on the nature of bill of lading. The Hague Rules use covered to stipulate that the bill of lading is the proof of carriage contract, while covered also means including. The Hamburg Rules and Maritime Laws of the People's Republic of China use evidence to stipulate that the bill of lading is the proof of carriage contract, while the United States Freight Act 1999 considers the bill of lading as the carriage contract directly. For this problem that the nature of the bill of lading is proof of the carriage contract or the carrier of the carriage contract, this paper adopts the methods of literature research and comparative study, starting from the relevant legal provisions of bill of lading, progressively analyze the legal nature of bill of lading and draw a conclusion from the perspective of the conclusion of carriage contract, the relationship between bill of lading and carrier of carriage contract and carrier of carriage contract three dimensions. That is, the bill of lading is not the carriage contract and the rights and obligations of both parties are subject to the carriage contract in the non-public carrier contract of human transport. In the public carrier contract of human transport, the bill of lading is the carrier of the carriage contract in some cases, but only the proof of the carriage contract iLn some cases.