Conflict Between Arbitration Clause And Jurisdiction Clause In Bills Of Lading: A Doctrinal Analysis With Reference To Indian And English Law
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Sathiya S, LL.M. (Hons), School of Excellence in Law, The Tamilnadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai
ABSTRACT
Bills of lading are the most important documents in the world of international trade and carriage of goods by sea. A bill of lading works as a receipt of goods, a document of title, and also as evidence of the contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier. In modern shipping practice, bills of lading often contain both an arbitration clause and a jurisdiction clause. Sometimes these two clauses are in conflict with each other. This conflict creates a big legal problem — which clause must the parties follow? Should the dispute go to an arbitration tribunal, or should it go to a civil court named in the jurisdiction clause?
This paper studies this conflict in a doctrinal manner by looking at the relevant provisions of the Bills of Lading Act, 2025 (Act No. 18 of 2025), Indian legal principles, English shipping law, and leading case laws. The paper takes help from important scholarly books like Scrutton on Charterparties and Bills of Lading, Payne and Ivamy's Carriage of Goods by Sea, Mitra's Law Relating to Bills of Lading, and Ivamy's Casebook on Carriage by Sea. The paper finds that in most situations courts give more importance to the arbitration clause because of the strong policy in favour of arbitration in both India and England. But this depends on how the clause is written in the bill of lading. The paper also gives recommendations for how to draft these clauses properly to avoid conflicts.
Keywords: Bills of Lading, Arbitration Clause, Jurisdiction Clause, Conflict of Clauses, Carriage of Goods by Sea, Bills of Lading Act 2025, Shipping Law, International Trade Law, Charterparty, Dispute Resolution
