Transport Documents in Carriage of Goods by Sea
Page 43
CHAPTER 4
The bill of lading as a receipt
4.1 Bill of lading as evidence in general
One of the basic features of a bill of lading is that it serves as an instrument of evidence, meaning that it can be used to support the existence of an agreement between the parties and the details of such agreement. In order to understand this feature of the bill of lading, it is necessary to define what is evidenced by the bill of lading and what its evidentiary effect is.