A recent judgment of the Court of Udine has confirmed that the carrier has no obligation to return the pallets in the absence of a specific agreement on the point as set forth by article 11 of Italian legislative decree 286/2005, which states that the carrier is not liable for the restitution of the pallets.
In the case at hand a carrier had acted in order to obtain the payment of the considerations due for the performance of carriages. The principal challenged the order for payment objecting the set-off of the carrier’s claim with that deriving from the failed restitution of the pallets.
The Judge declared the illegitimacy of the requested set-off between the two claims, applying the mentioned art. 11 legislative Decree 286/2005, confirming the order for payment and fully dismissing the opposite party’s requests. This also in light of the fact that during the proceedings the opposite party had not even proven it had entrusted the carrier with the restitution of the pallets, nor their exact number, nor that there was an agreement on the value to be given to the pallets. The contractual conditions actually provided that the restitution of the pallets had to be expressly requested on the transport document of the goods or on the letter of appointment of the shipment.
The judgement confirms the trend already expressed by other case law which is becoming increasingly accepted.
(Trieste Office – Federica Fantuzzi – 0039 (0)40 7600281)
