Barrister Gregory Nell, SC, and chair of AMTAC discusses the law relating to section 11 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991.
That section relates to the governing law of, and effectiveness of foreign jurisdiction and arbitration clauses in, certain contracts for the carriage of goods by sea.
In recent years, this law has been subject to considerable debate and scrutiny.
Because of the way the law works under section 11, the parties to contracts for the inter-State carriage of goods by sea are free to agree to their contract being governed by foreign law rather than Australian law and for any claims arising under such inter-State contracts for the carriage of goods by sea to be determined by foreign courts or arbitration overseas.
The particularly interesting aspect is that such contracts are otherwise subject to and regulated by the Carriage of Sea Act, which otherwise renders these kinds of agreements in contracts to be inoperative and of no effect.
It’s a bit of a loophole and Mr Nell argues that, given it has potential to prejudice shippers and consignees of inter-State shipments, that it should be fixed.
Read Mr Nell’s full analysis and insights here.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”14677″]
