Regulating the Electronic Sea Bill of Lading in Jordanian Law: A Comparative Study of its Feasibility

Abstract

Objectives: The study aims to demonstrate the extent to which the provisions of the electronic bill of lading can be regulated in Jordanian law, clarify the extent to which the electronic bill of lading is authoritative in proof, and indicate the areas of contradiction between the general provisions of the bill of lading in the Jordanian law and the Hamburg Treaty. Methods: The study adopted both inductive and comparative approaches by reviewing and analyzing texts of international documents and related Jordanian laws and comparing them, in addition to analyzing court rulings that examined traditional and electronic bills of lading disputes. Results: The study found that the Jordanian legislator did not organize provisions related to the electronic bill of lading, and the necessity to amend Article 13 of the Jordanian Evidence Law to grant authenticity to the electronic bill of lading. The results also confirmed the specificity and comprehensiveness of the provisions added by the Rotterdam Rules of 2008 by addressing the practical aspects related to the circulation of the electronic transport record and indicating the authoritativeness of the electronic bill of lading in proving the trading operations contained therein as per the rules of Bolero. Conclusions: The study recommends that the Jordanian legislature address the need to amend the texts of the Jordanian Electronic Transactions Law and clarify the provisions of Article 12 to reduce confusion. Additionally, it recommends amending Article 13 of the Evidence Law and Article 18 of the Electronic Transactions Law to align with the specificity of the electronic bill of lading contained in international documents. Keywords: E-commerce, Sea shipping, Carriage of goods by sea, electronic bill of lading.