La Mercantilidad Del Contrato De Transporte Terrestre De Mercancías (The 'Merchantability' of the Contract of Carriage of Goods by Road)
Year: 2011
Type: preprint
Abstract: Spanish Abstract: La determinacion de los sujetos del transporte ha sido, como pone de manifiesto la Exposicion de Motivos de la nueva Ley de Transporte Terrestre, fuente de continuos problemas tanto teoricos como practicos. Varios son los articulos dedicados a esta cuestion en la Ley, algunos de los cuales creemos necesario abordar. La defectuosa regulacion de estas cuestiones en el Codigo de Comercio ha llevado a que la nueva normativa dedique especial atencion a la determinacion de estos sujetos. Igualmente significativa es la novedosa nocion de mercantilidad, antiguamente enunciada en el derogado art. 349 C.Com, cuyos criterios han quedado modificados. La necesidad de ser comerciante el porteador, o la propia habitualidad en su actuacion, han dado paso a la onerosidad del contrato o a obligatoria contratacion en nombre propio, quedando configurada la habitualidad no como criterio definitorio de la figura del porteador, si no en el elemento caracteristico de la forma de contratacion. Tratar de clarificar la posicion contractual de las personas que intermedian en el transporte ha sido igualmente objetivo de la nueva regulacion, consagrando, en lineas generales, las modernas tesis que obligaban a tales intermediarios a contratar en nombre propio asumiendo la posicion del porteador.
English Abstract: The identification of the parties involved in the contract of carriage has been, as evidenced by the Preamble of the new Spanish Law on Contracts for the Land Carriage of Goods, a source of continuing problems both theoretical and practical. There are several articles on the law devoted to this subject, some of which we believe must be carefully analyzed. The defective regulation of these matters in the Spanish Commercial Code has led to the new Law paying special attention to the identification of the contracting parties. Equally significant is the notion of “merchantability”, formerly laid down in the repealed Art. 349 C. Com, whose requisites have been modified. The previously necessary condition of entrepreneur of the carrier, or the habitual character of its commercial activity in the transportation operations have given way to the onerousness of the contract as well as to the intermediaries’ obligation to contract in their own name. Exceptionally, the Act allows contracting in another’s name provided that three requisites are all met (that this is stated at the time of contracting, the principal is identified and the mediation service isn’t remunerated). The regularity or habitual character of the carrier’s activity has been set, not as a criterion for determining the application of the special rules, but as an element in fact typical and usually present in the contractual activity for the provision of transportation services. Trying to clarify the contractual position of those parties has been stated as one of the main objectives of the new regulation, implementing, in general, the modern thesis that oblige intermediaries to contract in their own name assuming the position the carrier.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Authors: Juan Pablo Rodríguez Delgado, Juan Pablo
Institution: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Language: Spanish
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2603198478