This case involved damage of goods carried from Lisbon, Portugal, to Funchal in the Madeira Islands. The defendant carrier argued that the claim was extinguished as it was brought to court after the period of one year provided for in art 3.6 of the Hague Rules, transposed into national law by Dec Law No 37.748, of 01.02.1950. The plaintiff replied that such an exception was unfounded, claiming that the one-year period provided for in the Hague Rules is a limitation period and not an expiry period. In a first action brought before the court on 28 August 2007, the limitation period was interrupted on 2 September 2007 and only resumed on 18 February 2008, the date of the final judgment of the judgment that terminated the case. The court of first instance held for the defendant carrier. The plaintiff appealed to the Lisbon Court of Appeal.

Held: Appeal dismissed. Contested decision confirmed.

Article 3.6 of the Hague Rules provides: 'In any event the carrier and the ship shall be discharged from all liability in respect of loss or damage unless suit is brought within one year after delivery of the goods or the date when the goods should have been delivered.' As Nuno Manuel Castello-Branco Bastos argues, such a period deserves to be short 'if one considers that, in the commercial field, there is a pressing need for security and for a prompt definition of commercial situations'. And a similar position is taken by Hugo Ramos Alves, according to whom 'the anticipation of such a short deadline for bringing the action is related to the need to regulate relatively quickly disputes arising from the breach of international carriage of goods as well as facilitating the submission of evidence by the parties which intend to enforce a claim'. In accordance with the provisions of art 298(2) of the Civil Code, where, by virtue of the law or the will of the parties, a right can be exercised within a certain period of time, the rules of forfeiture shall apply unless the law expressly refers to a limitation period. Since the drafters of the Brussels Convention made no express reference to such a limitation period, doctrine and case law have peacefully come to the understanding that it is a expiry period.