파손화물보상장 발행관행의 불법성에 관한 검토

Review on the Illegality in ‘Letter of Indemnity’ Practices

Even with certain concerns about issuing a letter of indemnity especially for the part of third party consignees, endorsees and their financial institutions, a letters of indemnity itself is one of the time-tested practices in the maritime transportation. Reviewed in this article is the illegality in letter of indemnity practices with the comparative analysis of leading cases from both Korean and British courts. Even though it depends on the context of an individual case whether an indemnity agreement between a carrier and shipper makes the carrier liable to the consignee for the damage to goods, it should be noted that the letter of indemnity practice itself can be acceptable especially for practitioners in maritime transportation. This is the case when a clean bill of lading is designed to conduct some practical roles in international trade. The letter of guarantee is and should be treated as a contract separate from the bill of lading contract, resulting in the application of different rules, particularly in respect of time for suit.