A Comparative Study on Incorporation of Charterparty Arbitration Clauses into Bills of Lading(Selective Countries: England, China, Germany and Iran)

Charterparties are being used for years as a common practice worldwide to provide shipping services in various international routes. A bill of lading is known as one of the most important documents in maritime transportation all over the world. There might be some discrepancies between the written consent on a charterparty and the terms and conditions stipulated on a bill of lading. The shippers or consignees in the bill of lading, and also its forthcoming transferees may be totally unaware about exact content of the parties' agreements. To facilitate settlement of the disputes which may arise between the terms of conditions of these two documents, incorporation of an arbitration clause in the charterparty is one of the methods which may contribute to resolution of the arguments. Different countries have their own laws so each of them takes different approaches towards settlement of their disputes by either courts or arbitration. The Maritime Law of Iran ratified as early as 1964 was primarily inspired from Hague Rules 1924. It has differences as well as similarities with the laws of other countries. The current paper intends to address incorporation of the charterparty arbitration clause into bills of lading among the selective countrie including England, China, Germany and Iran. Establishment of technical maritime courts and professional arbitration committees in addition to updating the national maritime law in accordance with the latest national requirements and the most recent international conventions could be clues to improve the process of dispute settlement in this field.