It is a well-known fact that international trade contracts bear inherently more risk than the trade contracts entered by the parties from the same country. This is due to the differences in business methods and practices used, trade cultures of the parties involved, laws and regulations in the respective jurisdictions. Under these circumstances, it is very important for the seller to have the assurance of that he receives the payment for the goods dispatched and for the buyer to receive the goods what has been ordered. One effective way of having such an assurance is to rely on a letter of credit as an international payment method. But for exporters in particular, this payment method has presented difficulties in meeting the compliance requirements necessary for the payment to be triggered. The UCP 600 published by the International Chamber of Commerce provide the rules that govern letters of credit transactions. At the introduction of the UCP 600, it was aimed to remove wording that could lead to inconsistent application and interpretation, as against the language and style used in the previous version, namely the UCP 500. Highlighting the experiences under UCP 500, the ultimate focus of the revision of the UCP was to minimise the level of litigations that had arisen under the rules provided in the UCP. In several surveys, it has been reported that, nearly 50% of the first presentation for payment under letters of credit are rejected by the banks. This situation implies the fact that the provisions which cover letters of credit transactions are not either clear enough or well understood by the parties involved. Similarly, the decisions made by Courts around the world on issues related to letters of credit have taken different approaches when applying and interpreting the rules. This can clearly be seen by a myriad of controversial judicial standards which have been applied to similar mistakes in documents presented to the bank for payment. This thesis is an investigation into those issues to find out the optimal standards that could be applied to solve the said problems. In doing so, this thesis will strive to ascertain what remedial measures could be taken to address the issues related to examination of documents, the rejection of payment and fraud exception. Key words: International Trade, International Trade Law, Law of Letters of Credit, Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credit 600, Examination of Documents and communicating the decision.

國際貿易實務上，「信用狀」係往來銀行提供信用狀擔保付款之模式，確保跨國貿易之順利完成、加速貿易進行，為當今世界重要付款方式。「信用狀統一慣例（UCP）」係國際商會（ICC）制定之信用狀交易實務慣例，自1933年首次頒布以來，目前已成為全世界公認遵行之信用狀標準處理方針。2007年，國際商會公佈最新修訂版本之第600號出版物“UCP 600”，明定因應銀行及航運實務發展、檢討UCP 500之規範文字及語體、抑制銀行拒絕付款率等為主要修訂目標。 鑑於UCP 600對於未來國際貿易發展之影響力，實有全面且深入研究UCP 600條款內容及規範目的之必要。本文以UCP 600新增定義解釋條款、審查單據條款、及運送單據條款為研究主題，透過闡釋條文涵義、比較與UCP 500之差異、探究新條款影響、檢討修訂目標之成效等，俾使信用狀當事人及相關銀行正確理解及適用UCP 600條款內容。 本文首先介紹信用狀之特性、經濟功能及信用狀統一慣例之定位適用等基本概念；其次從文義解釋、法律性質及當事人間法律關係等觀點切入，闡釋UCP 600本次新增之定義及解釋條款；並研究銀行實務最常發生爭議之審查單據程序，詳盡分析UCP 600規定之審單標準、符合提示、拒付瑕疵單據等重要條款。此外，本文探討UCP 600所規定國際航運常見之提單、多式運送單據、不可轉讓海運單及傭船提單等運送單據條款。最後，本文針對UCP 600條款之重要修訂內容予以彙整，嘗試提出該等條款之修正趨勢及未來發展。 / In international trade practice, “letter of credit”which is the most important type of payment in the world is the means of settlement that an issuing bank independently undertake to honour a complying presentation , and that ensures international trade to successfully completed, and speeded up the transactions.“ICC Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credit(UCP)”is the rules of international letter of credit practice promulgated by the Commission on Banking Technique and Practice of the International Chamber of Commerce(ICC).The 2007 Revision, UCP 600, is the latest of a series of revisions of these ICC rules that date from 1933 and have in their evolution become the universal norm for commercial letter of credit. The introduction of UCP 600 expressly indicated the main revised objective was to address developments in banking and transport industries, to look at the language and style used in UCP 500, and to reduce the rejections of the documents presented under letter of credit. In consideration of the influence of UCP 600 for the development of international trade in the future, it was necessary to generally and deeply research the clauses and provisions of UCP 600 and the revised objective. This paper’s research subjects include the formal definitions and interpretations of UCP 600, the provision regarding examination of documents, and the provisions regarding transport documents. In order to make the parties of letter of credit and the relevant banks correctly understand and apply the UCP 600 clauses, this paper interprets the meaning of UCP 600 clauses, compares the differences between UCP 600 and UCP 500, analyses the influence of new provisions, and look at the achievements of this revision. This paper first introduces the fundamental concepts included the characteristic of letter of credit, the economic functions of letter of credit, and the position and application of UCP 600.The second part is to discuss the formal definitions and interpretations that UCP 600 new formulated from the perspectives of language interpretation, quality of law, and the law relationship of the parties. Then this paper discusses the rules for the examination of documents that most controversial in banking industries, and analyses the important provisions regarding standard for examination of documents, complying presentation, and rejection of discrepant documents. Moreover, this paper is referring to the general transport documents clauses stipulated in UCP 600, including bill of lading, multimodal transport document, non-negotiable sea waybill, and charter party bill of lading. Finally, this paper synthesizes the significant revised provisions, and recommends several suggestions about modifying the relevant provisions in UCP 600 and development in the future.