Transportation Law

The Geneva Convention for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), signed on 19.5.1956 and ratified by Law 559/1977, is an integral part of Greek law and prevails over any contrary provision of law. Conditions for its application are the paid transportation of goods by road with vehicles in a country different from the one of their receipt, as long as at least one of them is a contracting country.

The carrier is responsible for the total or partial loss of the goods and for their damage, which occurred between the time he received the goods and the time of their delivery (art. 1 par. 1 and 17 par. 1 of the Convention). The contract of carriage, whether it is an internal or an international carriage, concerns, in principle, three persons, namely the consignor or consignor, the carrier, who disposes of the means of transport and performs the work of carriage, and the consignee. It is a contractual liability of the carrier to indemnify the person who had the right to dispose of the goods and who may be the consignor or the consignee of the goods. This contractual liability may overlap with the tortious liability of the carrier which may exist, against the owner of the goods only, if the loss or damage to the goods, as an illegal act, is due to the fault of the carrier.

In cases of successive transports, where one carrier succeeds the other in parts of the transport and there is total or partial damage to the transported goods, they are all liable towards the consignee. In order to establish the concept of “consecutive carriers”, it is required that the entire transport project is undertaken and/or carried out by more than one person, each of whom undertakes and/or carries out a specific part of the transport, i.e. the movement of goods from one place to another.

In cases of joint and several liability towards the recipient of the goods, it is required, on the one hand, that this transport is governed by a single contract of carriage, and that the delivery note has been issued, which constitutes, for the joint and several liability of the successive carriers, ingredient and not evidence. The carrier responsible for the destruction or damage of the goods is responsible not only for his own acts and omissions, but also for the acts or omissions of his agents or agents or employees, as if they were his own.

“Konstantinos Darivas & Associates” Law Office, with efficiency, speed and confidentiality, provides you with all legal advice regarding issues related to Transportation Law, an extremely specialized law. Our office has a wide network of partners who have the necessary legal knowledge within the framework of the applicable International Conventions and Laws and who can successfully resolve any issue arising from International Transactions and events related to the transportation of goods by air, sea or rail and road., the tortious behavior of the carrier, the compensation in case of loss or damage of the transported goods and the liability for consecutive transports. Our services are customized with particular emphasis on the needs of our principals, taking into account their business activities and operations.