Transport law (Germany)

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The transport law is a branch of commercial law . It includes the regulations on the "transport", or rather the "transport" of goods .

A clear distinction is to be made between “transport”, or better “conveyance” of people and goods traveling with them, i.e. luggage. However, insofar as luggage “travels” without people, we will again have to speak of the actual transport of goods in individual cases. The transport of people and luggage is subject to different rules than the transport of goods (even if both the transport of goods and the transport of people are regulated in the international agreements mentioned below).

Contract types

The individual contract types are intra German predominantly in the Commercial Code regulated (HGB) and apply regardless of the means of transport. They are as follows:

The transport insurance law, which is regulated by the Insurance Contract Act and the General Insurance Conditions, is particularly important . Violations of cargo obligations (e.g. axle load, total weight) are punished by the road traffic regulations (StVO) and the catalog of fines in the traffic offense law.

In the case of cross-border transport , these regulations are essentially based on international agreements - insofar as they are applicable to the respective states and / or contractual partners in detail - (e.g. CMR - international road transport; COTIF / CIM - international rail transport; MÜ / WA - international air transport; CMNI - international inland waterway transport).

In addition, general terms and conditions that are customary in the industry and that are usually negotiated by the associations of all parties to a contract under transport law and are therefore particularly widely recognized are of great importance. Particularly noteworthy here are the ADSP and logistics terms and conditions , which are used by an overwhelming number of all forwarding and logistics service providers.

Furthermore, the transport law is characterized by a special liability law. For example, for the freight contract there is no-fault liability on the part of the carrier for the goods taken into his care (custody liability ). This affects the carrier in almost every case of damage, but is limited to 8.33 SDR / kg in accordance with Section 431 (1) HGB . This no-fault but also limited liability can be found for almost all types of contract under German transport law.

Overseas transport

However, maritime trade law is essentially based on international agreements (e.g. Hague Rules ) and legal traditions, so that German law does not play a decisive role internationally here. In the case of sea transport in particular, there is largely freedom of contract worldwide.

If, however, German law is applicable in detail, maritime trade law is regulated by law in §§ 476 ff. HGB (5th book of the HGB). But the German legislator also assumes that the maritime trade rules are largely available.

In practice, the rules of private international law must also be observed.

Legal profession

Lawyers can acquire the title of specialist lawyer for transport and forwarding law . Transport insurance law is also covered by specialist lawyers for insurance law and transport offenses (violations of loading regulations) by specialist lawyers for traffic law.

literature

(Newest first)

  • Ingo Koller: Transport law. Comment . 9th edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2016
  • Olaf Hartenstein, Fabian Reuschle (ed.): Handbook of the specialist lawyer for transport and forwarding law . 3. Edition. Carl Heymanns Publishing House, Cologne 2015
  • Thomas Wieske : Transport law recorded quickly . 3. Edition. Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2012
  • Andreas Gran: The case law on transport law in 2012 . In: NJW , 2013, p. 910 (previous article: ... in the years 2010 and 2011 , NJW , 2012, p. 34)
  • Paschke, Furnell: Transport law . Beck-Verlag, Munich 2011
  • Janßen, Mittelhammer: Legal practice for freight forwarders, carriers and warehouse keepers . 1st edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60033-3
  • Günther Pokrant: Current case law of the highest court on transport law , transpr 2011, 49
  • Thume, Karl-Heinz, Questions of presentation and evidence in transport law . In: transpr , 2008, p. 428
  • Bornkamm: On the transport law case law of the Federal Court of Justice . (PDF; 35 kB) Summary of the information presented at the transport law symposium of the “German Society for Transport Law e. V. (DGTR) ”on current issues of transport law in Dresden on November 13th and 14th, 2008 on the website of the DGTR
  • Neumann: procedural peculiarities in transport law . (PDF; 92 kB) In: transpr , 2006, p. 429 (published among other things on the website of the "German Society for Transport Law eV")

Trade journals

  • for goods transport:
    • Transport law (transpr) (table of contents can be viewed on the website of the German Society for Transport Law e.V.)
    • European transport law (ETR)
    • Law of the Transport Industry (RdTW)

Web links