Letter Of Indemnity

Letter of Indemnity in Maritime Law

Note: There is more information on maritime/admiralty law here.

The following is a definition of Letter of Indemnity, produced by Tetley, in the context of admiralty law: [Translation of Letter of Indemnity in French: “lettre d’indemnité”] [Translation of Letter of Indemnity in Spanish: “carta de garantía del cargador”] [Translation of Letter of Indemnity in Italian: “lettera di manleva” or “lettera di garanzia alla partenza”] [Translation of Letter of Indemnity in German: “Indemnitätsbrief”] – A written undertaking by a shipper (see this maritime law term in this legal dictionary) to indemnify a carrier (see this maritime law term in this legal dictionary) for any liability which the carrier may incur for having issued a clean bill of lading (see this maritime law term in this legal dictionary) when, in fact, the goods received were not as stated on the bill of lading (see this maritime law term in this legal dictionary). Such a letter is usually a central document in a fraud, whereby the shipper and carrier knowingly misrepresent to third parties the actual order and condition of the goods at the time of shipment or the bad order of the packing, or whereby they issue duplicate bills of lading to replace lost or stolen originals. Letters of indemnity should not be condoned by courts and are generally held ineffective as against third parties. See Tetley, M.C.C., 4 Ed., 2008 at pp. 2011-2074; Tetley, Int’l. M. & A. L., 2003 at p. 73; Hamburg Rules (see this maritime law term in this legal dictionary) art 17(2) and (3) (referring to letters of indemnity as “letters of guarantee”.

Letter of Indemnity in Admiralty Law

For information on letter of indemnity in this context, see the entry on letter of indemnity in the maritime law encyclopedia.