engleski

Written form of the contract of carriage by road in Croatia: Why and at what cost?

On May 12th, 2018 a new legislative act came into force in Croatia, making the contract of carriage by road a formal (written) contract, where the form became a condition for validity of an otherwise consensual contract. Unlike contracts of carriage in any other mode of transport, the contract of carriage by (probably) the fastest and most flexible mode of transport has – with no explanation whatsoever – become formal and to that respect equal with contracts of, for example, sale of real estate. The problem lies in the fact that procedures of contracting transport services for passengers and freight in road transport have been well established in Croatia for decades, with strong customs within the industry regarding the ways in which parties communicate the terms of the contract. The contract of carriage by road was traditionally an informal (non-written) consensual contract, where only the will of the parties expressed in any way (impliedly by entering the vehicle, sending a loading declaration and accepting it by e-mail, phone etc.) formed a valid contract of carriage. A transport document – passenger ticket or consignment note – was only proof of the contract and prima facie evidence of its terms. Now, as the contract of carriage of passengers, luggage and goods has become formal, all those procedures can easily lead to a great number of void contracts due to a lack of a prescribed form of the contract, with highly detrimental consequences for the industry, which is mostly unaware of this small yet essential legal modification.

contract of carriage by road, CMR, formal contract, nullity of the contract, liability of the carrier, Croatia

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