The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament. It incorporates into English Law the Hague-Visby Rules which are to be found as the Schedule to the Act. The Act does not use the term "Hague-Visby Rules" as such; instead, the Rules are referred to in that Act as the "Hague Rules As Amended".
Contents
Under Article X, the Rules apply if:
(a) the bill of lading is issued in a contracting State, or (b) the carriage is from a port in a contracting State, or (c) the contract (of carriage) provides that (the) Rules ... are to govern the contract".If the Rules apply, the entire text of Rules is incorporated into the contract of carriage as a "statutory contract", and any attempt to exclude the Rules is void under Article III (8).
Section 3 of the Act provides that there is no strict (or absolute) duty to provide a seaworthy ship. Under the Rules, the carrier must merely exercise due diligence, before and at the start of the voyage, to provide a seaworthy ship.
The Hague-Visby Rules were amended by a protocol in 1979, but not all signatories to the Rules have adopted the amendments.
Additional UK provisions
Although Article I(c) of the Rules exempts live animals and deck cargo, section 1(7) of the Act restores both items into the category of "goods" covered by the law of carriage of goods by sea. The effect of this is that ALL goods carried as cargo are covered by the 1971 Act.
Also, although Article III(4) declares a bill of lading to be a mere prima facie evidence of the receipt by the carrier of the goods", section 4 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 upgrades a bill of lading to be "conclusive evidence of receipt", thereby annulling the decision in Grant v Norway 1851.
Note
The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 does NOT apply to contracts for the carriage of goods by sea.