Legal Assistance
Whenever possible it is preferable to settle disputes out of court - on the court steps if necessary but not to venture inside! Unfortunately, disputes do arise from time to time which cannot be solved by correspondence between the parties nor with the intervention of local British embassy or consulate staff.
Thanks to the knowledge of its staff and its membership of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) based in Geneva, FTA is able to advise members whose drivers have been fined or detained by foreign police or other enforcement authorities.
FTA has access to an international network of lawyers to provide assistance to its road transport operator members. Firms in the network employ a number of bilingual lawyers who are specialists in various fields of law (transport law, taxation law, civil and commercial law, administrative law, labour law, European Community law, criminal law and procedural law).
They may be contacted by members if any legal problems arise with regard to the following.
- National application or interpretation of international conventions affecting transport operators or their partners
- Contractual relationship between the road transport operator's partners: shippers, consignors, loaders or consignees of goods, forwarding agents, subcontractors, ferry operators, airlines and railway companies, insurers and banks
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Contracts or litigation with administrative authorities and the police
Lawyers participating in the scheme provide their services for the customary legal fees in their country.
