The limitation of the liability of the carrier from loss of or damage to goods and delay in delivery arising from contract of freight

Contract of freight is as contract in which the carrier assumes the responsibility of carrying the goods by sea on condition that a fee (freight) is paid. Starting especially from the 19th century, the carrier has sought to abolish his responsibility by various nonliability clauses in the establishment of the contract of freight. The first of the international agreements which supposes to set a limit to such clauses that aggravates the situation of the charterer and other beneficiaries is the 1924 Hague Rules, which is followed by the Hague / Visby Rules of 1968, Hamburg Rules of 1978 and finally, the Rotterdam Rules of 2009. The old as well as actual Turkish Commercial Codes have both brought some regulations concerning the liability of the carrier in regards to the actualities in this area. While the OTCC (Old Turkish Commercial Code) was mainly based on the Hague Rules, the fundamentals of the liability of the carrier that are accepted in the TCC (Turkish Commercial Code) lies within the axis of the Hague / Visby Rules and the Hamburg Rules. Among the novelties that are brought by the TCC are provisions such as the concept of actual carrier, the acceptance of the basis of Special Drawing Right (SDR) and weight as an alternative to the basis of package or unit, the loss of the right of limitation of liability in the presence of certain conditions and the acceptance of the application of the system of limited liability when the claim to damages is not based upon contractual liability but on tort or another basis. In this thesis, the aim is to analyze the liability of the carrier (arising from loss of or damage to goods and delay in delivery) in terms of the provisions of the TCC in comparison to the OTCC and the international agreements that are concerned with the same subject. Keywords: contract of freight, the liability of the carrier, the limitation of liability of the carrier, the loss of the right of limitation of the carrier, Turkish Commercial Code, Hague Rules, Hague / Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules.