CARRIER’S LIABILITY

ON
MONTREAL CONVENTION 1999

SARUNA KHADKA
SECTION B
ROLL NO: 46
 CONTENTS
• Why Montreal happened?
• What is Montreal Convention?
• Features of the Montreal Convention.
• Criticism
• Conclusion
 WHY MONTREAL HAPPENED ?

• The history of Montreal convention completely owes to the Warsaw system, which not
only refer to the Warsaw convention but actually consists of several amendments and
agreements that make up this complex system of rules.
• The concept of “willful misconduct”, burden of proof on the part of the claimant was
almost impossible to use successfully .
• Compensation has always been the problem . The carrier could avoid liability if it had
taken all necessary measures to avoid the loss, or it was impossible to do so.
• Confusion in liability regarding checked and unchecked baggage.
• The absurd situation where two passengers sitting next to each other may be governed
by different regimes depending on their point of origin . So, there was a ultimate need
for single , effective and uniform instrument governing aerial aviation.
 WHAT IS MONTREAL CONVENTION 1999?
• Montreal Convention is a multilateral treaty adopted by a diplomatic meeting by
ICAO members in 1999.
• It is aimed to establish uniformity and predictability of rules relating to international
passengers, baggage and cargo.
• MC99 applies equally to all gratuitous carriage by aircraft performed by an airport
transport undertaking.
• International carriage in MC99 means where places of departure and destination are:
I. in different states, or
II. In the same state but with an agreed stopping point in another state.
FEATURES OF THE MONTREAL CONVENTION
• It creates a two-tier liability regime for damages in cases of injury/death.
TIER 1st: liability of the air carrier up to 100,000 SDR, irrespective of the carrier’s
default.
TIER 2nd:liability of the air carrier in excess of 100,000 SDR which is fault-based.
• Another plausible feature is the Article 20 of the Convention which exonerates the
carrier in case of negligence or wrongful act or omission by the claimant but
either “wholly or partly”.
• Article 23 adopts the SDR valuation formula used in the Montreal Protocols,
being the valuation on the date of judgement.
• Article 30 explicitly extend the limitations and conditions of the Montreal
convention to servants or agents of the carrier.
• Under the Montreal convention, a claim for damages may be brought in the
country of the “principal and permanent residence” of the passenger as long as the
carrier also flies to and from that country and owns or leases premises in that
country, also known as the fifth jurisdiction.(Article 33)
• Provision for review of carrier’s liability limits every five years to take account of
Inflation.(Article 24)
• Provision that states may require their own carriers to make advance payments
following aircraft to assist victims or their relatives meet their immediate
economic needs. (Article 28)
• Provision that punitive, exemplary or other non- compensatory damages may not
be recovered in any claim arising from international carriage by air.( Article 29)
• Provision that states must ensure their air carriers maintain adequate insurance to
cover their liability under the Convention.(Article 50)
• Provision for simplified documentation, eliminating the need for cargo consignors
to complete detailed paper-based air waybills, allowing simplified electronic
records to be used.
• Additional updated liability limits – for damaged or delayed baggage up to a limit
of 1,000 SDRs for each passenger; for damaged or delayed cargo up to 17 SDRs
per kilogram; and for delay of passengers up to 4,150 SDRs (Article 22)
• In a way , Montreal convention puts unlimited liability as in cases of an accident
whose causes may never become known.
• The convention also incorporates the Guadalajara Convention extending to both the
actual and contracting carrier.
• Nepal acceded to the Montreal Convention on August 24,2014.Nepal has adopted the
Monist approach in enforcing treaties and thus does not require additional
parliamentary action to make the Montreal convention enforceable in Nepal.
• ADJUSTED LIABILITY LIMITS:
i. For damage , loss or delay of baggage: 1,131 SDRs
ii. For damage ,loss or delay of Cargo: 19 SDRs per KG
iii. For damage caused by delay: 4,694 SDRs
iv. For bodily injury or death: 113,100 SDRs
 CRITICISM
• The concept of ‘accident’ and ‘bodily injury’ was not discussed and clarified.
• The concept of fifth jurisdiction does not apply to cargo and baggage.
• Montreal convention puts unlimited liability as in cases of an accident whose
causes may never become known.
• No compensation awarded to emotional damages and mental trauma related to
the aviation accident.
• The 1999 Montreal convention is far from perfect but the airlines and their users
will have to live with its-flaws possibly for decades to come.
“BETTER A DIAMOND WITH A FLAW THAN A PEBBLE WITHOUT”
 CONCLUSION
• The Montreal convention has played a major role in setting up a minimum
standard of compensation to be payable in case of death / injury to the passengers.

THANK YOU