5 Interpretation etc.

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In this Act—

  • “bill of lading”, “sea waybill” and “ship’s delivery order” shall be construed in accordance with section 1 above;

  • “the contract of carriage”—

    1. a

      in relation to a bill of lading or sea waybill, means the contract contained in or evidenced by that bill or waybill; and

    2. b

      in relation to a ship’s delivery order, means the contract under or for the purposes of which the undertaking contained in the order is given;

  • “holder”, in relation to a bill of lading, shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2) below;

  • “information technology” includes any computer or other technology by means of which information or other matter may be recorded or communicated without being reduced to documentary form; F1...

  • F1...

2

References in this Act to the holder of a bill of lading are references to any of the following persons, that is to say—

a

a person with possession of the bill who, by virtue of being the person identified in the bill, is the consignee of the goods to which the bill relates;

b

a person with possession of the bill as a result of the completion, by delivery of the bill, of any indorsement of the bill or , in the case of a bearer bill, of any other transfer of the bill;

c

a person with possession of the bill as a result of any transaction by virtue of which he would have become a holder falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above had not the transaction been effected at a time when possession of the bill no longer gave a right (as against the carrier) to possession of the goods to which the bill relates;

and a person shall be regarded for the purposes of this Act as having become the lawful holder of a bill of lading wherever he has become the holder of the bill in good faith.

3

References in this Act to a person’s being identified in a document include references to his being identified by a description which allows for the identity of the person in question to be varied, in accordance with the terms of the document, after its issue; and the reference in section 1(3)(b) of this Act to a document’s identifying a person shall be construed accordingly.

4

Without prejudice to sections 2(2) and 4 above, nothing in this Act shall preclude its operation in relation to a case where the goods to which a document relates—

a

cease to exist after the issue of the document; or

b

cannot be identified (whether because they are mixed with other goods or for any other reason);

and references in this Act to the goods to which a document relates shall be construed accordingly.

5

The preceding provisions of this Act shall have effect without prejudice to the application, in relation to any case, of the rules (the Hague-Visby Rules) which for the time being have the force of law by virtue of section 1 of the M1Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971.