This was an appeal in cassation against the judgment of the Rouen Court of Appeal, 19 November 1987.

Palm oil in bulk was loaded in an Indonesian port on board the ship Setia Budhi operated by PT Djakarta Lloyd (the carrier). The bill of lading mentioned that the cargo weighed 690,730 kgs. On delivery in the port of Le Havre (France), it was found that 12,766.35 kgs were missing. Aticam, the cargo insurer, sued the carrier for the payment of an indemnity corresponding to the value of the missing goods. The Court of Appeal dismissed Aticam's claim, on the ground that, although its indemnity claim was based on the short delivery noted on arrival of the ship, Aticam did not prove that this had occurred.

Held: Cassation.

Article 3.4 of the Hague Rules provides that the bill of lading creates a presumption, unless there is proof to the contrary, of the receipt by the carrier of the goods as described therein. By ruling thus, the Court of Appeal, which noted that the carrier had not formulated any reservations during loading as to the weight of the goods mentioned by the carrier in the bill of lading on the indications of the shipper, reversed the burden of proof and violated the aforementioned provision.

For these reasons, the judgment under appeal is struck down and annulled in its entirety, the case and the parties are returned to the position they were in before the aforementioned judgment, and the case is referred to the Caen Court of Appeal to be decided correctly.