About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


33 J. Mar. L. & Com. 91 (2002)
The Carrier's Liability for Breach of the Contract of Carriage of Goods by Sea under Turkish Law

handle is hein.journals/jmlc33 and id is 101 raw text is: journal of Maritime Law & Commerce, Vol. 33, No. 1, January, 2002 The Carrier's Liability For Breach of The Contract of Carriage of Goods by Sea Under Turkish Law Hakan Karan* I INTRODUCTION Commerce abhors a mystery. Any doubt with regard to the law applicable to commerce impairs merchants in their computation of potential risks and expenses, and deters them from trading. Even as the world has grown small- er and more integrated, much of Turkish law remains a mystery to outsiders, to the detriment of Turkey's international trade. Turkish governmental organizations are reluctant to publish English translations of Turkish codes and regulations concerning commercial and shipping law, and commentators have been correspondingly reticent. Indeed, with respect to a carrier's lia- bility for breach of the contract of carriage of goods by sea, nothing about the Turkish law has been written in English, the universally accepted lan- guage of international trade. This vacuum may explain why, despite the slow but steady increase in Turkey's international trade in the last fifteen years, so few bills of lading, waybills, and other documents relating to transport con- tain clauses referring to Turkish law or jurisdiction. This article addresses Turkish law pertaining to the carrier's liability under a contract of carriage of goods by sea. It does not however profess to deal exhaustively with all aspects of Turkish shipping law. Part II presents the general sources of Turkish maritime law; Part III examines the particu- lar rules concerning carrier liability for cargo's loss or damage in transit; Part IV sets out the basis for that liability; Part V examines the burden and order of proof when that liability is disputed; and Part VI addresses damages and their limitation, as well as limits to the time during which a court action may be initiated. *LL.B., LL.M. Ankara University; Ph.D. London Guildhall University; Assistant Professor of Law, Ankara University, Legal Consultant, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maritime Department.