Documents of title in carriage of goods by sea under English law : Legal nature and possible future directions

Transport documents in carriage of goods by sea may serve as evidence not only of the contract of carriage, but also of the receipt of goods. Some transport documents have also the status of docuntents of title, which means that they are able to represent the goods and entitle their holders to demand delivery from the carrier. This function of tronsport documents plays an important role in overseas sales, enabling the seller to sell the goods in transit while the physical delivery is not yet possible. Transport documents acting as documents of title also represent an essential element of letters of credit. The law has defined the characteristics and functions of transport docuntents, and hence which documents can qualfy as documents of title. In principle, a document can be recognized as docuntent of title onty by statute or by general custom. Presently, under English law, among transport docuntents only bills of lading are recognized as documents of title. Other transport documents presently used in sea carriage are of modern invention and no custom of merchants relating to them has been established. The purpose of this paper is to examine first the notion of a document of title; secondly, the rights which are transferred by the transfer of the bill of lading, as the only transport document with undisputed status as docuntent of title; and thirdly, to investigate the prospect that under English law, in addition to bills of lading, other transport docunments can be recognized as documents of title.