DCC 126/1998

The original dispute involved a claim for damages for lost cargo. The key point was that the court could decide to weigh evidence and material in an expert's report as long as its conclusions can be substantiated. Compensation should be calculated according to the rules of contractual liability if there is no description of the cargo on the bill of lading and there is a maximum liability in Federal Law No. 26/1981 for lost or damaged cargo for lost or damaged cargo.

Background

A claimant brought a claim against seven defendants ordering them to jointly and severally pay, 950,865.55 AED plus interest, which was the value of containers and their contents which had been owned and shipped by the claimant. Both the containers and contents had been lost by the defendants. The first instance court ordered the first, third and sixth defendant to pay 64,352.90 AED. The claimant appealed and the appeal court upheld the ruling. The claimant appealed by cassation arguing that the judgement had not order the defendants to pay the full amount, despite the fact the claimant's expert report had confirmed the amount claimed.

Decision