In a dispute with a Polish carrier company over a lost shipment, Gortyna represented a client from Serbia, which is an importer of almonds weighing 21.000 kg with a price over USD 120.000. While the shipment was loaded in Germany and was intended to be unloaded in Serbia, the carrier company made a serious error and instead discharged it in the Czech Republic.
The client reported a missing shipment and claimed loss towards the carrier company in accordance with Art. 17 and 23 of the CMR Convention. Among other things, Article 17 states that the carrier is responsible for any loss or damage to the goods in his care, unless the carrier may rely on one of the liability exclusions indicated in paragraphs (2) and (4). In addition to this, Article 23 of the CMR Convention is relevant since it states that in the event of liability, compensation for total or partial loss of goods shall be determined by reference to the worth of the items at the location and time at which they were accepted for carriage.
Since there was no reply from the carrier company, our team was engaged in proceedings before the Commercial Court in Serbia and finished them successfully for the client. An appeal was made by the carrier company but was denied by the Higher Commercial Court in Belgrade.
As the final result of the claims service, the client received the full amount of compensation, including all court and lawyer fees.
This is one of the claims stories where we had to work together with our client and our expert partners which included law office and court experts.