In the afternoon of June 6th, 2022, a special handover of bill of lading(hereinafter referred to simply as B/L) took place in the second court of Shenzhen Maritime Tribunal. The respondent of a maritime injunction application returned the B/L to the claimant. The maritime injunction case caused by freight forwarder exerting pressure on the consignee overseas by detaining the B/L was settled by pre-litigation mediation.

Three days ago, when the two parties first attended the court hearing,  the contradiction between the two parties were sharp and both sides were engaged in heated argument. The respondent insisted that this case should be handled along with all other cargo transportation disputes of the consignee and rejected mediation on the grounds of trade practice. When the judge assistant Zhang Weiquan asked the respondent to show the B/L involved to the court to prove that the respondent was in possession, the respondent denied the request and persisted that the consignee should pay before viewing the B/L. The case thus reached a deadlock. Considering the cargo ship would soon arrive at the port in Bangladesh, which would incur large amount of demurrage and storage charge and potentially intensify the conflict if the respondent kept on detaining the B/L, Judge Luo Chun made a great effort to negotiate with the claimant and the respondent back and forth. After analyzing the facts and potential outcomes, the judge gave the respondent instructions to protect his legitimate rights and interests with legal methods, and helped the claimant to contact the consignee to pay for part of the fees.

In the end, Both sides met in the middle. The respondent submitted a commitment letter and agreed to release the B/L, and completed the handover under the witness of judges and other attendants in the trial.