A Study On The Legal Status Of The Third Parties In The Contract Of Carriage Of Goods By Sea

"Privity of contract", also known as "privity of debt" in civil law system and considered as the cornerstone of the contract rule system, means that the contract is only binding on the parties within the contract. However, the strict application of "Privity of contract" in the contract of carriage of goods by sea brings about big; problems for the shipping and commercial business. The business of the carriage of goods by sea may be jeopardized with such problems as whether the third parties in the contract are entitled to bringing actions of contracts in their own names so as to defend their own rights and whether they are precluded from the immunities and limitation of liabilities provided in the contract unsolved. The lack of clear-cut rules on the legal status of the third? parties in China's Civil Law and Contract Law together with some ambiguous rules on the third parties, namely, the bearer of the bills of lading and the consignee, in the Maritime Law result in a considerable number of arguments conflicts of ideas in both theoretical and business areas. Resorting to several legal study methods, namely, comparison analysis, logical analysis as well as value judgments, this thesis implements a study mainly on the "rights and duties of the third parties", with the bearer of the bills of lading and the consignee as the object and "the immunities of the third parties", with the captains and the crews involved in the delivery of goods as the object, trying to work out a solution.This thesis is composed of four chapters:Chapter One: A definition is made in this chapter on the third parties in the contract of carriage of goods by sea discussed in this thesis, namely, the bearer of the bills of lading, the consignee, as well as other third parties involved in the contract.Chapter Two: An introduction to the definition and development as well as the establishment of the "privity of contract" is made, pointing out the difficulties for the third parties' right to sue with the restrictive application of the doctrine, and going through the different methods adopted of the solution of the conflict between the third parties' right to sue and the doctrine of the "privity of contract" theoretically and practically.Chapter Three: An emphasis is laid on this chapter by carrying on a study on the rights, duties and responsibilities of the bearer the bills of lading and the consignee Some theoretical arguments as to whether it is a right or a duty for the bearer the bills of lading and the consignee and the right to control the goods are also dealt with in this chapter followed by giving the writer's own opinion. Furthermore, An analysis is made on several major theories in the legal area concerning the resource of the third parties' rights followed by giving the writer's own opinion: integrating the theory of the third parties' interests and the theory of the securities.Chapter Four: The immunities and the limitation of liabilities of other third parties, namely, the captain and the crews, involved in the contract of carriage of goods by sea are discussed in this chapter. A point of view is made by the writer that the Himalaya Clause constitutes a contract for the third parties' interests. Finally A study on the rights, duties, and responsibilities of the actual carrier, a major third party in the contract, is made in this chapter, followed by some advices on the improvement of the actual carrier rules system in the Maritime Law.