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10
Certain Provisions of the Montreal Convention
The Montreal Convention applies to all international carriage of
persons, baggage, or cargo performed by aircraft for compensation.
According to the Montreal Convention:
•
The parties to the contract of carriage for cargo may stipulate that
any dispute relating to the liability of the carrier will be settled by
arbitration. Such an agreement must be in writing.
•
The right to damages is extinguished if an action is not brought
within a period of 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.
•
The carrier is liable for damages in case of the death or bodily
injury of a passenger only if the accident which caused the death
or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of
the operations of embarking or disembarking. The carrier is liable
for damages in case of the destruction of, the loss of, or damage to
checked baggage if the event which caused the destruction, loss, or
damage took place on board the aircraft or during any period within
which the checked baggage was in the charge of the carrier.
•
Nothing contained in the Montreal Convention prevents the carrier
from refusing to enter into any contract of carriage, from waiving
any defenses available under the Convention, or from laying
down conditions which do not conflict with the provisions of the
Convention.
•
In the case of carriage to be performed by various successive carriers,
each carrier which accepts passengers, baggage, or cargo is subject
to the rules set out in the Montreal Convention and is deemed to be
one of the parties to the contract of carriage in so far as the contract
deals with that part of the carriage which is performed under its
supervision. In the case of carriage of this nature, the passenger or
any person entitled to compensation can take action only against
the carrier which 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.