| Unit name | Shipping Law |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWD30043 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Mr. Baughen |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Contract. |
| Co-requisites |
none. |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit covers the basics of 'dry' shipping law - cargo claims against sea carriers and disputes under charterparties. The unit offers the student the chance to apply the principles of contract and tort, at a highly advanced level, to a complex commercial context involving multiple parties. The skills acquired in this unit are highly regarded by solicitors and barristers chambers involved not only in shipping law but in commercial litigation generally. The unit is delivered in an innovative way. Some of the eleven seminars will be workshop based around group analysis of documentation derived from a real cargo claim.
By the end of the unit a student should be able to explain: the process of identifying the relevant contracting parties in bills of lading contracts, the evidential effect of terms in the bill of lading, the terms implied into contracts of carriage (the warranty of seaworthiness and the obligation not to deviate), the application of the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules to contracts of carriage, the liability of charterers and bills of lading holders in respect of freight, the apportionment of loss due to delay by the laytime regime in voyage charters and the off-hire regime in time charters, the shipowner's remedies against charterers by way of lien and, in the case of time charters, by way of withdrawal. Students should be able to state the law accurately, to apply legal principles to problem case scenarios and to think critically about ways in which the law could be reformed. The unit is also intended to improve the benchmark skills of analysis and synthesis.
Seven two hour seminars.
One three hour examination.
Baughen 'Shipping Law' or Wilson 'Carriage of Goods by Sea' + cases/articles as directed.
