THE BILLS OF LADING ACT, 1856 (ACT NO. IX OF 1856)

CHAPTER 15.13
BILLS OF LADING ACT

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section

  1. Short title
  2. Rights under bill of lading to vest in consignee or indorsee
  3. Not to affect right of stoppage or claims for freight
  4. Bill of lading in hands of consignee, etc., conclusive evidence of the shipment as against master, etc.

CHAPTER 15.13
BILLS OF LADING ACT

(Acts 2 of 1887 and 24 of1956)

Commencement

[5 March 1887]

Short title

  1. This Act may be cited as the Bills of Lading Act.

Rights under bill of lading to vest in consignee or indorsee

  1. Every consignee of goods named in a bill of lading, and every indorsee of a bill of lading, to whom the property in the goods therein mentioned shall pass upon or by reason of such consignment or indorsement, shall have transferred to and vested in him all rights of suit, and be subject to the same liabilities, in respect of such goods as if the contract contained in the bill of lading had been made with himself.

Not to affect right of stoppage or claims for freight

  1. Nothing herein contained shall prejudice or affect any rights of stoppage in transitu, or any right to claim freight against the original shipper or owner, or any liability of the consignee or indorsee by reason or in consequence of his being such consignee or indorsee, or of his receipt of the goods by reason or in consequence of such consignment or indorsement.

Every bill of lading in the hands of a consignee or indorsee for valuable consideration, representing goods to have been shipped on board a vessel, shall be conclusive evidence of such shipment as against the master or other person signing the same, notwithstanding that such goods or some part thereof may not have been so shipped, unless such holder of the bill of lading shall have had actual notice, at the time of receiving the same, that the goods had not been in fact laden on board: Provided that the master or other person so signing may exonerate himself in respect of such misrepresentation by showing that it was caused without any default on his part and wholly by the fraud of the shipper, or of the holder, or some person under whom the holder claims.
Bill of lading in hands of consignee, etc., conclusive evidence of the shipment as against master, etc.