Transportation Law Prelims

First of all, if you haven't read the digests, please feel free to browse them at the following links:

Dangwa Transportation

Japan Airlines V. Asuncion

I actually did not finish digesting all the required cases but if you're interested to browse other case digests in transportation law, please visit arellanolaw.net. You can find about 200 case digests concerning Transportation Law.

Ok, let's begin.

Contract of Transportation - a contract whereby a person obligates himself to transport persons or property from one place to another for a consideration. It may involve either the carriage of goods or carriage of passengers. The person who obligates to transport the goods or passengers may be a private carrier or common carrier.

Perfection of the contract.
There are actually two types of contract involved in here:

1. Contract to carry - perfected by mere consent
2. Contract of carriage (or of common carriage) - perfected once the passenger has already purchased a ticket and boarded the carrier (in case of airplanes and trains), attempted to board the conveyances (in cases of buses, jeepneys, taxi), or once the goods are unconditionally placed in the possession and control of the carrier

What are common carriers?
Common carriers are persons, corporations, firms or associations engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, by land, water, or air, for compensation, offering their services to the public. They are public utilities impressed with public interest and concern.

Tests in determining whether a a party is a common carrier:

1. He must be engaged and holds himself out as ready to engage in the business of carrying goods for others as a public employment;
2. He must undertake to carry goods of the kind to which his business is confined;
3. He must undertake to carry by the method by which his business is conducted and over his established roads;
4. The transportation must be for hire.
   

Characteristics of common carriers:

1. carrying of persons or goods or both may be the principal business activity or merely an ancillary activity;
2. transportation service may be offered on a regular, scheduled, occasional, episodic, or unscheduled basis;
3. the services may be offered to the general public or only to a narrow segment of the general population;
4. with or without a Certificate of Public Convenience;
5. no distinction as to means of transporting, as long as it is by land, water or air;
6. it does not only have to be transportation by motor vehicle;
7. a common carrier may have no fixed or publicly known route, maintains no terminal, and doesn't issue tickets;
8. a person or entity need not be engaged in the business of public transportation for the provisions of the Civil Code on common carriers to apply to them.

Effect of Charter Party
A charter party may transform a common carrier into a private carrier in case of a bareboat or demise charter where the charterer mans the vessel with its own people and becomes, in effect, the owner for the voyage or service stipulated.


Towage - where one vessel is hired to bring another vessel to another place
Arrastre - receive, handle, care for and deliver merchandise passing through ports
Stevedoring - loading and unloading of coastwise vessels calling at the port

GOVERNING LAWS (sus, kung si Manriquez pa atong professor sigurado ko mugawas jud ni!)

1. Code of Commerce and other special laws
2. Law of the country of destination applies
3. Warsaw Convention (Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the International Carriage by Air

Summary of Rules:

1. Coastwise Shipping
• New Civil Code (Art. 1732-1766) - primary law
• Code of commerce - suppletorily
2. Carriage from Foreign Ports to Philippine Ports
• New Civil Code - primary law
• Code of Commerce - all matters not regulated bu the Civil Code
• Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) - suppletorily to the Civil Code
3. Carriage from Philippine Ports to Foreign Ports
• The laws of the country to which the goods are to be transported
4. Overland Transport
• Civil Code - primary
• Code of Commerce - suppletorily
5. Air Transportation
• Civil Code
• Code of Commerce
• For International Carriage - COGSA, as amended

I AM SICK! DI NAKO MAG-UPDATE.. TULOG SAKO! 12/21/07