THE ROTTERDAM RULES: BETWEEN HOPE AND DISAPPOINTMENT Lorena SALES PALLARÉS* ABSTRACT. In September 2009, the UN Convention on Contracts for In- ternational Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea —known as the Rot- terdam Rules— was opened for signature. When it formally enters into force, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) will have a single, uniform text which governs all international sea cargo transport as well as multimodal transport contracts that include a sea leg. The present study analyses the challenges and problems which might arise in the application of the Rotterdam Rules, especially with regard to carrier lia- bility. KEY WORDS: Maritime transport law, Rotterdam Rules, liability systems. RESUMEN. En septiembre de 2009 se abrió a la firma la Convención de Naciones Unidas sobre el Contrato de Transporte Internacional de Mercan- cías Total o Parcialmente Marítimo, bajo el nombre de Reglas de Rotterdam. Con su entrada en vigor se pretende contar con un texto único y uniforme. En el presente artículo se reflexiona sobre algunos problemas que las Reglas de Rotterdam pueden presentar, especialmente en el tema de la responsabilidad. PALABRAS CLAVE: Transporte marítimo internacional, Reglas de Rotter- dam, sistemas de responsabilidad. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ...................................... 126 II. BACKGROUND ........................................ 126 III. TYPES OF CONVENTIONAL LIABILITY SYSTEMS .............. 129 * Doctor in Maritime Law, Jaume I University, Castellon, Spain. Researcher at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (ISDC) and at the International Institute for the Unifi- cation of Private Law (UNIDROIT). Professor of Private International Law and Com- mercial Law at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). Member of the Center for the Law of International Transport (CEDIT) at the Jaume I University, Castellon (Spain). 125