The plaintiff, the Iran Insurance Joint-Stock Co, claimed IRR 89,200,000 for short delivery of cargo (75 bags of pistachios) from the liner shipping company D and company F.

The first instance Court, rejecting the plaintiff's claim, held that it was inadmissible because the cargo was discharged on 3 April 2008, but the claim was submitted on 9 January 2013, which was outside the time frame designated under art 393 of the Commercial Code and art 54(6) of the Maritime Code (based on art 3.6 of the Hague Rules), according to which claims against a carrier for damages are admissible only within one year from the date of delivery of goods.

The plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeal of Tehran Province.

Held: Appeal rejected.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the decision of the first instance Court was in compliance with the laws and regulations and submitted evidence due to the following reasons:

First, there is a time limit under art 393 of the Commercial Code and art 54(6) of the Maritime Code (based on art 3.6 of the Hague Rules), which, in the case of carriage of goods by sea, starts running from the date of delivery of goods to the consignee. In this case, the cargo was delivered on 3 April 2008.

Second, the plaintiff claimed that it had submitted its statement of claim within the limitation period, and that it was rejected by the court's administrator [for the plaintiff's failure to comply with such formal requirements as payment of the court fee and specifying the domicile of the defendant]. However, when the court's administrator rejected the statement of claim, it gave the plaintiff a one-year period starting again from the date of the issuance of the rejection by the administrator. In this case, the statement of claim was rejected on 20 December 2011. The plaintiff only submitted its amended statement of claim on 9 January 2013, which is also outside the legal deadline.

Third, a time bar is one of the barriers to adjudication according to art 84 of the Civil Procedure Code. The plaintiff's claim was brought outside the legal time frame and thus is unacceptable and inadmissible.