Uniform set of rules determines rights and liabilities

AGREEING WITH SA’s Maritime Law Association (MLA) is Frank Stevens, a lawyer with AntwerpLaw - a Dutch-based practice with local offices in the Cape - who suggests a path that could be followed in creating the appropriate liability legislation. And, when it comes to apportioning liability in the road transport industry, there are good reasons for developing a specific legal regime, he told FTW. This rather than leaving road carriage to freedom of contract. “The benefits primarily lie with the predictability and the protection of economically weaker parties offered by a legal regime,” said Stevens. “Freedom of contract may lead to uncertainty and unpredictability, and may also provide stronger parties with an unfair advantage.” And in creating this legal regime for road carriage, there is no need to start from scratch. One good example, for instance, is to be found in Europe, suggested Stevens - where the CMR Convention (Convention relative au transport de Marchandises par Route) has been regulating a major part of the road carriage for over 40 years now. “Generally speaking,” he said, “the CMR is considered a good convention. “It provides the parties involved in road carriage with a uniform set of rules, determining their rights, duties and liabilities. It is also balanced, taking into account and seeking a compromise between the interests of both the cargo and the carriers.”