Interlegal consulted the foreign forwarder upon cargo damage recovery

Interlegal experts consulted the foreign freight forwarder upon legal aspects and prospects of cargo damage recovery in the process of international automobile carriage.

Carriage from Romania to Ukraine was organized by the foreign freight forwarder, with the Ukrainian freight forwarder and the Romanian carrier involved as subcontractors. Having accepted the cargo, the carrier issued the appropriate CMRs. Contractual relationships between the freight forwarders were based on transport orders.

In view of actual case circumstances, Interlegal lawyers analyzed the issues of applying the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) and the Ukrainian substantive law to the legal relationships between the Parties. Ukraine has a vast but ambiguous and quite inconsistent court practice upon these issues.

Assessment of damage recovery prospects in similar relationship shall include legal status of carriage participants (consignor, consignee, carrier, freight forwarder, underwriter), type (joint, subsidiary) and scope of their liability under the contracts and the law, damage evidence assessment and compliance with time-bars.

Lawyers Karina Gorovaya, Olena Ptashenchuk and Mikhail Selivanov worked upon the case.