Excerpt from The Law Relating to Demurrage

HE law relating to Demurrage is a branch of mercantile law of the greatest importance to Shipowners', Charterers and Merchants.

Although the subject is dealt with somewhat briefly in the books relating to the law of Merchant Shipping, yet so far as the author is aware, there is no separate treatise on this subject either in this country, America, or Australia. As the work contains many references to American decisions and as the law of demurrage is in those countries to all intents and purposes identical with our own, it is hoped that this treatise may be found useful to the lawyers and merchants of those countries The present work has been prepared with special reference to making it acceptable in its scope and character to the practising lawyer, as well as to the commercial community in general. It is believed that this volume contains a reference to every decision on the subject, and to a number of the more important American decisions, and with very few exceptions, the facts of each case, with the decision of the Court, have been given fully, with quotations from the judgments of eminent Judges where it has been thought advisable in order to make the law clear. It has, however, been found impossible to reconcile in all cases the different decisions, as they appear somewhat contradictory; but this may be partly due to some particular fact having been omitted by the reporter, or some previous decision not having been brought to the notice of the Court.

It has been the aim of many authors to give, as succinctly as possible, the propositions decided by the Courts. This plan has not been adopted in the present work, it being in the opinion of the author the least serviceable in a legal treatise. The reports of cases are contained in hundreds of volumes, and are not always available to even the lawyer with a good legal library, whilst to the ordinary merchant they are wholly inaccessible. A treatise which epitomises in a line or two an important decision establishing a proposition of law often proves very unsatisfactory, and gives rise to a regret that more facts are not given. This is particularly so in a branch of law like that of Demurrage, where so much depends on the particular words used in the charter-party or bill of lading. Where a case is merely referred to without the facts, the facts may in most cases be found in another part of the book by referring to the table of cases.

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