The retention right says that when somebody owns a movable property of another, the former is entitled to retain that cargo, until he receives both the payment stated in the transport contract and the amounts spent for conservation, maintenance or improvement of the goods in question. For carriers, the retention right is stated in Romanian law by Article 433 of the Commercial Code, which states: ”The carrier is not required to hand in the things carried to the owner until the latter meets his obligations. In case of disagreement, if the recipient pays the amount owed, and also submits simultaneously the difference to the amount claimed by the carrier, the latter has to hand in the shipped goods.“
The conditions for exercising the right of retention are the existence of a claim against the owner of goods transported (a claim is certain, liquid and payable), the detention of goods from the carrier (by default, a legal possession of goods transported) and a link between debt and goods transported (i.e. the carriage of cargo transported is closely related to the payment in question). The carrier cannot make use of the retention right in certain situations, for example when there is a dispute about the debt’s amount. In this case, the carrier cannot refuse handing out the transported goods on arrival, being obliged to put goods transported to the recipient’s disposal if the latter pays the agreed amount and if he admits in writing that there is a supplementary payment disputed.
