Multimodal Transport Documents in English Law: COGSA 1992, COGSA 1971, and the Hague-Visby Rules

This paper, framed by UK law, focuses on analyzing the provisions of multimodal transport documents under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 and 1992,with particular attention to two key legal issues: First, whether multimodal transport bills of lading can be recognized as traditional bills of lading or seaway bill under the current legal framework; Second, whether the Hague-Visby Rules introduced by the 1971 Act can be directly applied to the maritime segment of multimodal transport practices. This paper analyzes the British legal precedents and legal provisions, and puts forward the following problems that need to be solved: first, the 1992 Act does not clearly define the multimodal transport documents and whether they can be applied to this law, and the 1971 Act does not make clear provisions on the scope of application. In order to deal with the practical challenges brought by the above defects, this paper will analyze the relevant content and put forward suggestions for legal modification: the law should clearly cover multimodal transport.