Le regime juridique international de la responsabilite du transporteur maritime de marchandises sous connaissement: Un echec

Lawyers, academics and practitioners who are involved in law of carriage of goods by sea are used to working with a complex regime of carrier's liability. The coexistence of multiple international conventions governing the regime of liability of the maritime carrier and their different and inconsistent legislative styles, have become the main reason for lack of uniformity in the field of the carriage of goods by sea. The Brussels Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Bill of Lading signed in August 25, 1924 and its Protocols amending 1968 and 1979 are based on presumption liability regime with a list of "excepted cases". A second Convention known as the Hamburg Rules of 1978 established a regime based on the presumption of fault of the carrier with two exceptions: fire and assistance or salvage. Finally, in 2009 the United Nations adopted the Convention on Contract for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea based on a ''special'' regime.;By analyzing the positive texts, jurisprudence, opinions and thoughts of scholars on this matter, we found that the different legal approaches adopted under these various laws do not ensure predictability and legal certainty sought out by maritime actors and courts. To overcome this complex reality, this thesis proposes an approach that will simplify the applicability of the rules of carrier's liability, which is the objective approach.;Keywords : ship-owner, carrier, cargo, bill of lading, damages, loss, delay, period of liability, predictability, presumption of liability, presumption of fault, due diligence, seaworthiness, excepted cases, force majeure , etc.;This study of the three conventions attempts to analyze their legal mechanisms and the sources of their dysfunction.