Cargo arrived at the port of Long Beach in the United States before December 2000, but the suit in the instant action was filed after one year had passed since that date. The Court below held that that part of the suit which seeks compensation for damages against the defendant as the sea carrier, caused by the defendant’s unlawful conduct and its failure to perform its obligations, shall be deemed invalid, as it was filed after the filing period had passed. The plaintiff appealed.

Held: Appeal dismissed.

Article 811 of the Commercial Code stipulates: 'The claims and obligations of the carrier in respect of the charterer, the consigner or the consignee, no matter what the reason for the claim, shall become extinct, if there is no claim on trial within one (1) year of the date when the carrier delivered the cargo to the consignee or the date when the carrier shall deliver the cargo to the consignee.' The phrase 'date when the carrier shall deliver the cargo to the consignee' normally refers to the date when the delivery should have been performed, had the transportation contract been implemented in accordance with the contents of the contract (see Supreme Court Decision 97Da28490, 28 November 1997). As such, if the cargo is not delivered, due to such factors as the cargo being destroyed, the carrier's refusal to deliver, etc, whether the above period for filing a cause of action has run shall be determined on the basis of the 'date when the carrier shall deliver the cargo to the consignee'. The decision by the Court below of the same purport is proper and does not constitute an unlawful determination.