Unit 8: Contract of Carriage
8.1 Meaning of Contract of Carriage
A contract of carriage is one by which the carrier undertakes, for reward (the freight), to carry goods or passengers from one place to another and (for goods) to deliver them to the consignee. The carrier is a bailee for reward (Unit 2’s discipline as the base) with the special duty of safe transit and delivery. The carrying trades divide by mode — land, rail, sea, air — each with its documents, liability standards and conventions. Nepal’s frame: the Muluki Civil Code 2074, Part 5, Chapter 11 (Contracts of Carriage of Goods) — the dedicated chapter (verified from the Code’s official table of contents) — over the sectoral transport statutes and practice.
8.2 Characteristics of Carriage and Contract of Carriage
- Bailment for reward — possession of the goods for transit; the carrier’s care duty (Unit 2’s bailee standard, heightened by reward).
- The common carrier’s public character — the old common-law insurer’s liability: the common carrier answered for all loss short of the classic exceptions (act of God, act of the Queen’s/state’s enemies, the shipper’s own fault, inherent vice — the quartet, named as doctrine), now softened by statute, convention and standard terms.
- Document-driven — the consignment note (land), rail receipt, bill of lading (sea), air waybill (air): receipt + evidence of the contract + (for the bill) document of title.
- Freight as the price — payable per the contract; the carrier’s lien on the goods for freight and charges (Unit 2).
- The standard-form world — carriers’ conditions of carriage, limitation clauses and convention caps; the consumer-protection overlay polices the riders (Law of Contract-I, Unit 4’s exclusion-clause controls).
8.3 Kinds of Carriage
8.3.1 Carriage by Land
(i) Meaning and classification of land carriers: the common carrier — one who holds himself out to carry for the public generally (the transporter, the courier network) — versus the private/special carrier
This is a preview. The complete Law of Contract-II notes — full unit, Exam Focus box and model questions — are in the PDF / full version. Get the complete notes →