Chapter I -
Scope - Definitions
1 . This Convention applies to all international carriage of persons, luggage or goods performed by aircraft for reward. It applies equally to gratuitous carriage by aircraft performed by an air transport undertaking.
2 . For the purposes of this Convention the expression "international carriage" means any carriage in which, according to the contract made by the parties, the place of departure and the place of destination, whether or not there be a break in the carriage or a transhipment, are situated either within the territories of two High Contracting Parties, or within the territory of a single High Contracting Party, if there is an agreed stopping place within a territory subject to the sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of another Power, even though that Power is not a party to this Convention. A carriage without such an agreed stopping place between territories subject to the sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of the same High Contracting Party is not deemed to be international for the purposes of this Convention.
3 . A carriage to be performed by several
successive air carriers is deemed, for the purposes of this Convention,
to be one undivided carriage, if it has been regarded by the parties as
a single operation, whether it had been agreed upon under the form of a
single contract or of a series of contracts, and it does not lose its
international character merely because one contract or a series of
contracts is to be performed entirely within a territory subject to the
sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of the same High
Contracting Party.
1 . This Convention applies to carriage performed by the State or by legally constituted public bodies provided it falls within the conditions laid down in Article 1.
2 . This Convention does not apply to carriage performed under the terms of any international postal Convention.
Chapter II -
Documents of Carriage
1 . For the carriage of passengers the carrier must deliver a passenger ticket which shall contain the following particulars:
1 . For the carriage of luggage, other than small personal objects of which the passenger takes charge himself, the carrier must deliver a luggage ticket.
2 . The luggage ticket shall be made out in duplicate, one part for the passenger and the other part for the carrier.
3 . The luggage ticket shall contain the following particulars:
Section III -
Air Consignment Note
1 . Every carrier of goods has the right to require the consignor to make out and hand over to him a document called an "air consignment note"; every consignor has the right to require the carrier to accept this document.
2 . The absence, irregularity or loss of
this document does not affect the existence or the validity of the
contract of carriage which shall, subject to the provisions of Article 9, be none
the less governed by the rules of this Convention.
1 . The air consignment note shall be made out by the consignor in three original parts and be handed over with the goods.
2 . The first part shall be marked "for the carrier" and shall be signed by the consignor. The second part shall be marked "for the consignee"; it shall be signed by the consignor and by the carrier and shall accompany the goods. The third part shall be signed by the carrier and handed by him to the consignor after the goods have been accepted.
3 . The carrier shall sign on acceptance of the goods.
4 . The signature of the carrier may be stamped; that of the consignor may be printed or stamped.
5 . If, at the request of the consignor,
the carrier makes out the air consignment note, he shall be deemed,
subject to proof to the contrary, to have done so on behalf of the
consignor.
The carrier of goods has the right to require the
consignor to make out separate consignment notes when there is more
than one package.
The air consignment note shall contain the following particulars:
If the carrier accepts goods without an air
consignment note having been made out, or if the air consignment note
does not contain all the particulars set out in Article 8 (a) to (i)
inclusive and (q), the carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself
of the provisions of this Convention which exclude or limit his
liability.
1 . The consignor is responsible for the correctness of the particulars and statements relating to the goods which he inserts in the air consignment note.
2 . The consignor will be liable for all
damage suffered by the carrier or any other person by reason of the
irregularity, incorrectness or incompleteness of the said particulars
and statements.
1 . The air consignment note is prima facie evidence of the conclusion of the contract, of the receipt of the goods and of the conditions of carriage.
2 . The statements in the air consignment
note relating to the weight, dimensions and packing of the goods, as
well as those relating to the number of packages, are prima facie
evidence of the facts stated; those relating to the quantity, volume
and condition of the goods do not constitute evidence against the
carrier except so far as they both have been, and are stated in the air
consignment note to have been, checked by him in the presence of the
consignor, or relate to the apparent condition of the goods.
1 . Subject to his liability to carry out all his obligations under the contract of carriage, the consignor has the right to dispose of the goods by withdrawing them at the aerodrome of departure or destination, or by stopping them in the course of the journey on any landing, or by calling for them to be delivered at the place of destination or in the course of the journey to a person other than the consignee idd in the air consignment note, or by requiring them to be returned to the aerodrome of departure. He must not exercise this right of disposition in such a way as to prejudice the carrier or other consignors and he must repay any expenses occasioned by the exercise of this right.
2 . If it is impossible to carry out the orders of the consignor the carrier must so inform him forthwith.
3 . If the carrier obeys the orders of the consignor for the disposition of the goods without requiring the production of the part of the air consignment note delivered to the latter, he will be liable, without prejudice to his right of recovery from the consignor, for any damage which may be caused thereby to any person who is lawfully in possession of that part of the air consignment note.
4 . The right conferred on the consignor
ceases at the moment when that of the consignee begins in accordance
with Article 13. Nevertheless, if the consignee declines to accept the
consignment note or the goods, or if he cannot be communicated with,
the consignor resumes his right of disposition.
1 . Except in the circumstances set out in the preceding Article, the consignee is entitled, on arrival of the goods at the place of destination, to require the carrier to hand over to him the air consignment note and to deliver the goods to him, on payment of the charges due and on complying with the conditions of carriage set out in the air consignment note.
2 . Unless it is otherwise agreed, it is the duty of the carrier to give notice to the consignee as soon as the goods arrive.
3 . If the carrier admits the loss of the
goods, or if the goods have not arrived at the expiration of seven days
after the date on which they ought to have arrived, the consignee is
entitled to put into force against the carrier the rights which flow
from the contract of carriage.
The consignor and the consignee can respectively
enforce all the rights given them by Articles 12 and 13, each in his own
id, whether he is acting in his own interest or in the interest of
another, provided that he carries out the obligations imposed by the
contract.
1 . Articles 12, 13 and 14 do not affect either the relations of the consignor or the consignee with each other or the mutual relations of third parties whose rights are derived either from the consignor or from the consignee.
2 . The provisions of Articles 12, 13 and 14 can only be
varied by express provision in the air consignment note.
1 . The consignor must furnish such information and attach to the air consignment note such documents as are necessary to meet the formalities of customs, octroi or police before the goods can be delivered to the consignee. The consignor is liable to the carrier for any damage occasioned by the absence, insufficiency or irregularity of any such information or documents, unless the damage is due to the fault of the carrier or his agents.
2 . The carrier is under no obligation to
enquire into the correctness or sufficiency of such information or
documents.
Chapter III -
Liability of the Carrier
The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the
event of the death or wounding of a passenger or any other bodily
injury suffered by a passenger, if the accident which caused the damage
so sustained took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any
of the operations of embarking or disembarking.
1 . The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of the destruction or loss of, or of damage to, any registered luggage or any goods, if the occurrence which caused the damage so sustained took place during the carriage by air.
2 . The carriage by air within the meaning of the preceding paragraph comprises the period during which the luggage or goods are in charge of the carrier, whether in an aerodrome or on board an aircraft, or, in the case of a landing outside an aerodrome, in any place whatsoever.
3 . The period of the carriage by air
does not extend to any carriage by land, by sea or by river performed
outside an aerodrome. If, however, such a carriage takes place in the
performance of a contract for carriage by air, for the purpose of
loading, delivery or transshipment, any damage is presumed, subject to
proof to the contrary, to have been the result of an event which took
place during the carriage by air.
The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by
delay in the carriage by air of passengers, luggage or goods.
1 . The carrier is not liable if he proves that he and his agents have taken all necessary measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for him or them to take such measures.
2 . In the carriage of goods and luggage
the carrier is not liable if he proves that the damage was occasioned
by negligent pilotage or negligence in the handling of the aircraft or
in navigation and that, in all other respects, he and his agents have
taken all necessary measures to avoid the damage.
If the carrier proves that the damage was caused
by or contributed to by the negligence of the injured person the Court
may, in accordance with the provisions of its own law, exonerate the
carrier wholly or partly from his liability.
1 . In the carriage of passengers the liability of the carrier for each passenger is limited to the sum of 125,000 francs. Where, in accordance with the law of the Court seised of the case, damages may be awarded in the form of periodical payments, the equivalent capital value of the said payments shall not exceed 125,000 francs. Nevertheless, by special contract, the carrier and the passenger may agree to a higher limit of liability.
2 . In the carriage of registered luggage and of goods, the liability of the carrier is limited to a sum of 250 francs per kilogram, unless the consignor has made, at the time when the package was handed over to the carrier, a special declaration of the value at delivery and has paid a supplementary sum if the case so requires. In that case the carrier will be liable to pay a sum not exceeding the declared sum, unless he proves that that sum is greater than the actual value to the consignor at delivery.
3 . As regards objects of which the passenger takes charge himself the liability of the carrier is limited to 5,000 francs per passenger.
4 . The sums mentioned above shall be
deemed to refer to the French
franc consisting of 65 « milligrams gold of millesimal
fineness 900. These sums may be converted into any national
currency in round figures.
Any provision tending to relieve the carrier of
liability or to fix a lower limit than that which is laid down in this
Convention shall be null and void, but the nullity of any such
provision does not involve the nullity of the whole contract, which
shall remain subject to the provisions of this Convention.
1 . In the cases covered by Articles 18 and 19 any action for damages, however founded, can only be brought subject to the conditions and limits set out in this Convention.
2 . In the cases covered by Article 17 the
provisions of the preceding paragraph also apply, without prejudice to
the questions as to who are the persons who have the right to bring
suit and what are their respective rights.
1 . The carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself of the provisions of this Convention which exclude or limit his liability, if the damage is caused by his wilful misconduct or by such default on his part as, in accordance with the law of the Court seised of the case, is considered to be equivalent to wilful misconduct.
2 . Similarly the carrier shall not be
entitled to avail himself of the said provisions, if the damage is
caused as aforesaid by any agent of the carrier acting within the scope
of his employment.
1 . Receipt by the person entitled to delivery of luggage or goods without complaint is prima facie evidence that the same have been delivered in good condition and in accordance with the document of carriage.
2 . In the case of damage, the person entitled to delivery must complain to the carrier forthwith after the discovery of the damage, and, at the latest, within three days from the date of receipt in the case of luggage and seven days from the date of receipt in the case of goods. In the case of delay the complaint must be made at the latest within fourteen days from the date on which the luggage or goods have been placed at his disposal.
3 . Every complaint must be made in writing upon the document of carriage or by separate notice in writing despatched within the times aforesaid.
4 . Failing complaint within the times
aforesaid, no action shall lie against the carrier, save in the case of
fraud on his part.
In the case of the death of the person liable, an
action for damages lies in accordance with the terms of this Convention
against those legally representing his estate.
1 . An action for damages must be brought, at the option of the plaintiff, in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, either before the Court having jurisdiction where the carrier is ordinarily resident, or has his principal place of business, or has an establishment by which the contract has been made or before the Court having jurisdiction at the place of destination.
2 . Questions of procedure shall be
governed by the law of the Court seised of the case.
1 . The right to damages shall be extinguished if an action is not brought within two years, reckoned from the date of arrival at the destination, or from the date on which the aircraft ought to have arrived, or from the date on which the carriage stopped.
2 . The method of calculating the period
of limitation shall be determined by the law of the Court seised of the
case.
1 . In the case of carriage to be performed by various successive carriers and falling within the definition set out in the third paragraph of Article 1, each carrier who accepts passengers, luggage or goods is subjected to the rules set out in this Convention, and is deemed to be one of the contracting parties to the contract of carriage in so far as the contract deals with that part of the carriage which is performed under his supervision.
2 . In the case of carriage of this nature, the passenger or his representative can take action only against the carrier who performed the carriage during which the accident or the delay occurred, save in the case where, by express agreement, the first carrier has assumed liability for the whole journey.
3 . As regards luggage or goods, the
passenger or consignor will have a right of action against the first
carrier, and the passenger or consignee who is entitled to delivery
will have a right of action against the last carrier, and further, each
may take action against the carrier who performed the carriage during
which the destruction, loss, damage or delay took place. These carriers
will be jointly and severally liable to the passenger or to the
consignor or consignee.
Chapter IV -
Provisions Relating to Combined Carriage
1 . In the case of combined carriage performed partly by air and partly by any other mode of carriage, the provisions of this Convention apply only to the carriage by air, provided that the carriage by air falls within the terms of Article 1.
2 . Nothing in this Convention shall
prevent the parties in the case of combined carriage from inserting in
the document of air carriage conditions relating to other modes of
carriage, provided that the provisions of this Convention are observed
as regards the carriage by air.
Chapter V -
General and Final Provisions
Any clause contained in the contract and all
special agreements entered into before the damage occurred by which the
parties purport to infringe the rules laid down by this Convention,
whether by deciding the law to be applied, or by altering the rules as
to jurisdiction, shall be null and void. Nevertheless for the carriage
of goods arbitration clauses are allowed, subject to this Convention,
if the arbitration is to take place within one of the jurisdictions
referred to in the first paragraph of Article 28.
Nothing contained in this Convention shall prevent
the carrier either from refusing to enter into any contract of
carriage, or from making regulations which do not conflict with the
provisions of this Convention.
This Convention does not apply to international
carriage by air performed by way of experimental trial by air
navigation undertakings with the view to the establishment of a regular
line of air navigation, nor does it apply to carriage performed in
extraordinary circumstances outside the normal scope of an air
carrier's business.
The expression "days" when used
in this Convention means current days not working days.
The Convention is drawn up in French in a single
copy which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs of Poland and of which one duly certified copy shall be
sent by the Polish Government to the Government of each of the High
Contracting Parties.
1 . This Convention shall be ratified. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited in the archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Poland, which will notify the deposit to the Government of each of the High Contracting Parties.
2 . As soon as this Convention shall have been ratified by five of the High Contracting Parties it shall come into force as between them on the ninetieth day after the deposit of the fifth ratification. Thereafter it shall come into force between the High Contracting Parties who shall have ratified and the High Contracting Party who deposits his instrument of ratification on the ninetieth day after the deposit.
3 . It shall be the duty of the
Government of the Republic of Poland to notify to the Government of
each of the High Contracting Parties the date on which this Convention
comes into force as well as the date of the deposit of each
ratification.
1 . This Convention shall, after it has come into force, remain open for accession by any State.
2 . The accession shall be effected by a notification addressed to the Government of the Republic of Poland, which will inform the Government of each of the High Contracting Parties thereof.
3 . The accession shall take effect as
from the ninetieth day after the notification made to the Government of
the Republic of Poland.
1 . Any one of the High Contracting Parties may denounce this Convention by a notification addressed to the Government of the Republic of Poland, which will at once inform the Government of each of the High Contracting Parties.
2 . Denunciation shall take effect six
months after the notification of denunciation, and shall operate only
as regards the Party who shall have proceeded to
denunciation.
1 . Any High Contracting Party may, at the time of signature or of deposit of ratification or of accession declare that the acceptance which he gives to this Convention does not apply to all or any of his colonies, protectorates, territories under mandate, or any other territory subject to his sovereignty or his authority, or any territory under his suzerainty.
2 . Accordingly any High Contracting Party may subsequently accede separately in the id of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, territories under mandate or any other territory subject to his sovereignty or to his authority or any territory under his suzerainty which has been thus excluded by his original declaration.
3 . Any High Contracting Party may
denounce this Convention, in accordance with its provisions, separately
or for all or any of his colonies, protectorates, territories under
mandate or any other territory subject to his sovereignty or to his
authority, or any other territory under his suzerainty.
Any High Contracting Party shall be entitled not earlier than two years after the coming into force of this Convention to call for the assembling of a new international Conference in order to consider any improvements which may be made in this Convention. To this end he will communicate with the Government of the French Republic which will take the necessary measures to make preparations for such Conference.
This Convention done at Warsaw on the 12th October, 1929,
shall remain open for signature until the 31st January, 1930.
(With reference to Article 2)
The High Contracting Parties reserve to themselves the right to declare at the time of ratification or of accession that the first paragraph of Article 2 of this Convention shall not apply to international carriage by air performed directly by the State, its colonies, protectorates or mandated territories or by any other territory under its sovereignty, suzerainty or authority."
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