Commercial and Maritime Law in China and Europe
Chapter 14
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Multimodal Transport in German Case Law: The Beginning and the End of the Sea Carriage
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I Introduction
The German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB), hereafter referred to as “GCC”), which contains the central provisions of the transport law, was enacted over 100 years ago. As the world of transport evolved, pressure built upon the legal system to accommodate the new factual situation. In particular, the rise of containerised transport vastly increased the instances in which transports were carried out by more than one means of transport.1 Courts, also in Germany, were more frequently faced with cases relating to a multimodal carriage of goods. Over the years, German courts created a certain amount of case law, thereby outlining principles applying to the multimodal carriage.2