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CMR-SDR Protocol 1978 in Force in South-East Europe: Uniformity, almost

Three countries in the SEE region - Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – ratified the CMR-SDR Protocol 1978 in the period between 2017 and 2020, after many decades of reluctance. This has put an end to the long period of legal and financial uncertainty for both haulage and insurance industries in the SEE region, when the limitation of liability of the carrier could only be calculated in Gérminal francs (GF), according to the original CMR Convention 1956 by which those countries were only bound at the time. After the recent ratifications only Bulgaria and Montenegro remain outside the scope of the CMR- SDR Protocol, disrupting full unification within the CMR-SDR Protocol 1978 in the SEE. Kosovo, as a non-UN member state as of yet, remains completely outside the scope of the whole CMR system. The analysis of the Croatian case law in the field between 1990-2020 shows several negative trends directly caused by the non- ratification of the CMR-SDR Protocol 1978, which will now have to be reversed. The GF is recognized as a unit of measurement of the limitation limit, but the practical lack of expertise in calculating its value led to extreme prolongation of litigation. The extremely high limit of liability calculated in GF made the liability limitation institute useless and thus almost never invoked in litigation by carriers, as the actual value of the goods never reached such limits. The carriers were therefore liable for the full amount of damages with only approx. 10% of the GF limits insurable under the liability insurance policies offered on the market. The recent ratifications, long overdue, will finally re-introduce the carrier’s right to limitation of liability up to the limits fully insurable on the market, ensuring the necessary competitive edge for the haulage industry in the region.

CMR Convention, CMR-SDR Protocol 1978, road transport, liability for damages, limitation of liability, South-East Europe, Germinal Franc, Special Drawing Right (SDR), Croatia

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