浅议航次租约仲裁条款并入提单的生效要件问题

On Some Legal Issues Relating to the Valid Conditions of Voyage Charter Party Arbitration Clause Incorporated into the Bills of Lading

承运人为保护自己利益,实践中常在提单上添加一个并入条款,写明要把航次租船合同中的仲裁条款并入进该提单,以约束提单背书转让后的非承租人的提单持有人。我国目前对于仲裁条款并入提单的生效要件问题没有明确规定,中国法院在这一问题上的实践差异也很大,中国货方在货损后也就因此常常不能得到及时救济。本文通过分析航次租约中的提单性质,明确了提单在承运人和非承租人的提单持有人之间是作为一种法律拟制的特殊合同存在;对航次租约仲裁条款并入提单的生效要件提出了意见,对于中国货方如何避免仲裁并入条款的不利影响提出了一些可行性建议,并分析了我国立法和司法机关为保护我国提单持有人的利益可采取的措施。

In the practice of marine, the carrier frequently adds an incorporation clause into the bill of landing for his own benefits. The object is to make the arbitration clause in the voyage charter party incorporated into the bill of Lading, so the arbitration clause will also bind the holder of bill of lading who is a third party. As far as the issue of whether and when the incorporation clause can go into effect is concerned, there are no specific and concrete operational articles in maritime code of China. So the judicial practice sometimes is inconsistent. This article analyses the essential character of bill of landing in voyage charter party, which exists as a sort of contract relationship between the cartier and the B/L holder provided by marine law. Then it puts forward three pieces of constructive advice on the valid conditions of incorporation into the bill of lading of the arbitration clause contained in the charter party and offers some suggestion to the buyers in china.