運送人責任制限의 기준으로서 包裝 또는 船積單位의 槪念

The Definition of Package or Unit Under the Package Limitation System

The Regime of limitation of marine carrier`s liability, which remarkably goes against the viewpoint for the protection of a victim or a consumer in the fundamental course of the present law, is the legal regime peculiar to the maritime law. But this regime is different from the regime of limitation of shipowner`s liability and is based on the consideration theory of an onerous contract. So this is not a regime that is favorable for a carrier and is unfavorable for a shipper unilaterally. That is to say, it shall be watched with keen interest that low rate and limitation of liability maintain relations of consideration. But, in the application of the regime of limitation of marine carrier`s liability for the solution of a concrete case, it is difficult to come up with the objective standard. Also there is no denying the fact that the difficulty of interpretation is big because Hague Visby Rules is a law accomplished by the compromise between the nation of Anglo-American legal system and the nation of Continent legal system. In this case, the package or unit, as a standard of limitation of marine carrier`s liability, is simple in the law, but the actual interpretation causes such a difficulty. Because of the internationalism of the international carriage of goods by sea, it is hard to give a nationalistic interpretation of law. Therefore, this paper analyzes the outline and the disputed point of the case become an issue, and investigates the judicial precedent of the British Common Wealth of Nations, the judicial precedent of America and the interpretation of Carriage of Goods by Sea Act of Japan. In conclusion, this paper will show the standard of interpretation on Korea Commercial Law, consulting the yardstick for judgement of the package or unit as a standard of limitation of marine carrier`s liability that is based on the judicial precedents and the theories of other nations.