海上货物运输法中“承运人的代理人”之真实身份考察

摘要

The concept of ＂agent＂ may be used in both broad and narrow sense under Anglo-American law. In broad sense it includes servant and independent contractor, but in narrow sense it only refers to servant. Under the Hague-Visby Rules, ＂agent of the carrier＂ of the catch-all exception clause which adopts the broad sense, differs from that of the non-contractual claim clause which takes the narrow sense. So different treatment arises. The same concepts in those two articles of the Hamburg Rules have the same broad meaning which clears up different treatment and is positive in both theory and practice. The Rotterdam Rules do not use the concept and seem to break it down. This hides some troubles. ＂Agent of the carrier＂ in Chapter IV of the Maritime Code of P. R. China can not cover some contractual assistants due to our restricted understanding that agent should perform juristic act. Different treatment still exists. This paper proposes to substitute ＂assistant of the carrier＂ for ＂agent of the carrier＂, or to change ＂servant or agent of the carrier＂ to ＂assistant of the carrier＂.%英美法中，“代理人”一词可在广狭两种意义上使用，广义包括受雇入和独立合同人，狭义仅指受雇人。《海牙一维斯比规则》的概括免责条款与非合同索赔条款中的“承运人的代理人”同名不同义，前者采广义，后者采狭义，造成差别待遇问题。《汉堡规则》两个条款中的“承运人的代理人”同名同义，均为广义，消除了差别待遇，具有积极理论和实践意义。《鹿特丹规则》未用“承运人的代理人”一语，似将其作了分身处理，但有一定隐患。《中华人民共和国海商法》第四章的“承运人的代理人”本应采广义，但限于国内法对代理人应从事法律行为的固有理解，不能把某些履行辅助入包括进来，仍存差别待遇问题。建议用“使用人”替换《中华人民共和国海商法》第四章“承运人的代理人”中的“代理人”，或者，直接将“承运人的受雇人或者代理人”改为“承运人的使用人”。