1.1 Laytime and demurrage comprise one aspect of English maritime law, in particular the law relating to voyage charters. The present law has for the most part been developed by judicial interpretation of clauses in commercial charterparties over the last one hundred and fifty years, although some of the basic principles were established somewhat earlier, at around the time that Queen Victoria came to the throne.
1.1装卸时间和滞期构成英国海事法律的一个方面，特别是有关航次租合同方面的法律。这150年来，当前绝大部分的法律通过商业租船合同的条款的司法解释已经得到很大发展，尽管如此，在大约维多利亚女王即位稍早时期，已经建立了一些基本原则。
1.2 The development of this branch of the law has been closely allied to the historical and social changes that took place as sail gave way to steam, and more recently as improved methods of communication have given greater central control to those controlling the commercial adventure, which a voyage charter still represents. It is perhaps one of the few remaining areas of English common law in which there has been little statutory intervention.
1.2这一法律分支的发展与从帆船过渡到蒸汽时代的历史和社会变革一直是密不可分，还有最近通信方式的革新对充分掌控这种商业冒险活动给予强有力支撑，航次合同仍然是这方面的代表。它也许是英国普通法中所剩下的几个很少有法定强制干预的领域之一。
1.3 The establishment of standard forms of charter, the meaning of almost each word of which has been the subject of judicial interpretation, might have resulted in a static law, but fortunately that has not been so and the law continues to develop to meet present and future needs. The increasing use of additional clauses to charterparties, some of which are not always accidentally ambiguous, will also no doubt continue to provide much material for future litigation.
1.3租船合同标准格式的确立形成，几乎其中每一单词的含义都经过司法的解释，本有可能促成一种静态的法律，但幸运的是这并非如此并且法律继续不断地发展以满足现在和将来的需求。越来越多的租船格式使用附加的条款，其中一些并不总是故意模糊不清，这也毫无疑问将会为未来的诉讼继续提供大量的素材。
1.4 Whilst most of the cases relating to laytime and demurrage arise in the context of charterparties, it must always be remembered that the law relating to these matters also plays an important role in contracts, such as sale contracts.
1.4虽然有关装卸时间和滞期费的案例大部分是出现在租船合同的背景下，必须永远铭记的是，有关这些问题的法律在合同中扮演着重要的角色，如货物买卖销售合同。
