Hamburg Rules

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Hamburg Rules
United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea
Signed31 March 1978
Location Hamburg and New York
Effective1 November 1992
ConditionRatification by 20 states
Signatories28
Ratifiers35
Depositary UN Secretary-General
LanguagesArabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

The Hamburg Rules are a set of rules governing the international shipment of goods, resulting from the United Nations International Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea adopted in Hamburg on 31 March 1978. [1] The convention was an attempt to form a uniform legal base for the transportation of goods on oceangoing ships. A driving force behind the convention was the attempt by developing countries' to provide all participants a fair and equal chance of succeeding. It came into force on 1 November 1992. [2]

Contents

History

The first of the international conventions on the carriage of goods by sea was the Hague Rules of 1924. In 1968, the Hague Rules were updated to become the Hague-Visby Rules, but the changes were modest. The convention still covered only "tackle to tackle" carriage contracts, with no provision for multimodal transport. The industry-changing phenomenon of containerization was barely acknowledged. [3] [4] The 1978 Hamburg Rules were introduced to provide a framework that was both more modern, and less biased in favour of ship-operators. Although the Hamburg Rules were readily adopted by developing countries, they were shunned by richer countries who stuck with Hague and Hague-Visby. It had been expected that a Hague/Hamburg compromise might arise, but instead the more extensive Rotterdam Rules appeared.

Relation with other conventions

Article 31 of the Hamburg Convention [5] covers its entry into force, coupled to denunciation of other Rules. Within five years after entry into force of the Hamburg Rules, ratifying states must denounce earlier conventions, specifically the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules.

A long-standing aim has been to have a uniform set of rules to govern carriage of goods, but there are now five different sets: Hague, Hague-Visby, Hague-Visby/SDR, Hamburg and Rotterdam. (The Rotterdam Rules are not yet in force). [6] [7]

Ratifications

As of March 2021, the convention had been ratified by 35 countries:

CountryComments
Flag of Albania.svg Albania
Flag of Austria.svg Austria
Flag of Barbados.svg Barbados
Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg Burkina Faso
Flag of Burundi.svg Burundi
Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon
Flag of Chile.svg Chile
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Dominican Republic
Flag of Egypt.svg Egypt
Flag of The Gambia.svg Gambia
Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia
Flag of Guinea.svg Guinea
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary
Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Kazakhstan
Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya
Flag of Lebanon.svg Lebanon
Flag of Lesotho.svg Lesotho
Flag of Liberia.svg Liberia
Flag of Malawi.svg Malawi
Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco
Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria
Flag of Paraguay.svg Paraguay
Flag of Peru.svg Peru
Flag of Romania.svg Romania
Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Flag of Senegal.svg Senegal
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Sierra Leone
Flag of Syria (2025-).svg Syria
Flag of Tunisia.svg Tunisia
Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda
Flag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania
Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia

References

  1. "United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (The Hamburg Rules) Hamburg, 30 March 1978". 30 March 1978. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  2. UNCITRAL Homepage
  3. Hague-Visby Rules: Article IV Rule 5c
  4. "The Hague-Visby Rules - the Hague Rules as Amended by the Brussels Protocol 1968". 1968. Archived from the original on 2007-07-08. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  5. "Hamburg Rules". Archived from the original on 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  6. Maritime Law - 2014 - ed. Yvonne Batz
  7. Maritime Law Evolving - 2013 - ed. Malcolm Clarke