Montreal Convention

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Convention for the Unification of Certain Regulations on International Air Transport , in short: Montreal Convention (abbreviation MT) regulates liability issues in international civil air transport, i.e. both questions of freight transport and questions of passenger transport. The Montreal Convention was signed on May 28, 1999. The core of this agreement is the modernization of the legal requirements for air transport. The main issue here is the liability of the contractual air carrier for damage to people, luggage or cargo that occurs during a flight. The Montreal Convention has been in force in Germany and Austria since 2004 and in Switzerland since 2005. It replaced the Warsaw Convention on international air transport , which had been in force since 1929 (see also the section on the scope of application ).

The Montreal Convention is drawn up in the six official UN languages ​​( Arabic , Chinese , English , French , Russian and Spanish ), with all wording being equally binding. Conversely, this means that the German translation is not a binding version of the contract.

scope of application

The agreement lays down rules for every international transport of people, luggage or goods that is carried out by aircraft for a fee. It also applies to free transport by aircraft if they are carried out by air carriers (Art. 1 Para. 1 MT).

Note: Since not all states of the world are contracting states of the Montreal Convention, it must be checked in individual cases whether the old Warsaw Agreement (WA) of 1929/1955, the Guadalajara Supplementary Agreement to the Warsaw Agreement (ZAG) is not applied to the specific transport. or one of the other international agreements applies to the specific transport. The relationship between the MT and this agreement is governed by Article 55 MT. The current status of the members of the individual international air transport contracts can be requested from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Personal injury

The MT standardizes strict liability up to a maximum amount of 128,821 special drawing rights per passenger (Note: As of December 28, 2019 - the last increase in the maximum liability limit from 100,000 to 113,100 SDR took place in 2009 according to Art. 23 MT). The air carrier has unlimited liability for any damage beyond this. The air carrier can therefore only avoid unlimited liability if he can prove that his conduct did not contribute to the occurrence of the damage (Art. 17 Para. 1 and Art. 21 MT).

Damage caused by delay

  • The air carrier is liable for damage caused by delays in the carriage of people from suspected negligence up to an amount of 5,346 special drawing rights per traveler (Art. 19 and Art. 22 Para. 1 MT) (Note: From December 28, 2019 - the last increase in the maximum liability limit from 4,150 to 4,694 SDRs took place in 2009 according to Art. 24 MT).
  • When transporting luggage, the air carrier is liable for delays up to an amount of 1,288 SDRs (Art. 19 and Art. 22 Para. 2 MC) (Note: From December 28, 2019 - the last increase in the maximum liability limit from 1,000 to 1,131 SDR took place in Year 2009 according to Art. 24 MT).
  • The limitations according to Art. 22 Para. 1 or Para. 2 MT do not apply if the injured party can prove that the damage was caused by intent or recklessness on the part of the air carrier (Art. 22 Para. 5 MT). In order to avoid liability according to Art. 22 Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 2 MT, the air carrier must prove that he has taken all reasonable measures to avoid delays or that he was unable to take such measures.
  • The maximum liability limit in the event of a delay in the transport of goods is now 22 SDRs per kilogram of the total weight of the freight items directly affected according to Art. 19 and 22 para Year 2009 according to Art. 24 MT).

Property damage

The fine print in case of loss of luggage; Pegasus Airlines information sign
  • The maximum liability limit for destruction, loss or damage to luggage is 1,288 SDR per traveler (Art. 17 Para. 2–4 and Art. 22 Para. 2 MT) (Note: As of December 28, 2019 - the last increase in the maximum liability limit from 1,000 to 1,131 SDR took place in 2009 according to Art. 24 MT). The airline is liable for the destruction, loss or damage of checked baggage regardless of fault (unless the damage is due to the uniqueness of the baggage or an inherent defect). The liability limit for luggage does not apply if the passenger can prove that the damage was caused by intent or negligence on the part of the air carrier. In order to be able to fully assert their compensation claims, the passenger must be able to provide evidence of which baggage items were destroyed, damaged or lost. In the event of compensation, the assessment basis is not based on the new price, but on the residual value of the luggage concerned.
  • The maximum liability limit for destruction, loss, damage and delay in the transport of goods is now 22 SDR per kilogram of the total weight of the directly affected freight items according to Art. 18 and Art. 22 Para 17 to 19 SDRs took place in 2009 according to Art. 24 MT).

particularities

  • Full or partial exemption from liability is possible if the air carrier proves that the person making the claim for damages or their legal predecessor caused or contributed to the damage through an unlawful act or omission, even if it was just negligent, and this act or Failure to cause or contribute to the damage (Art. 20 MT).
  • The maximum liability limit of 22 SDR / kg applies to air transport of goods and for intent and flippancy / Coarse fault of the tortfeasor or his people [Note .: unlike the other international instruments concerning the cross-border transport of goods: CMR for international road transport, CMNI for international transport on inland waterways and COTIF for international transport on railways]. However, the maximum liability limit of the MT can be increased by agreement between the contracting parties (Art. 25 MT).
  • In contrast to the other existing international transport agreements (see above), the maximum liability amounts with the MT can be adjusted without having to renegotiate the entire contract (Art. 24 MT). The last adjustment was made in 2019.

See also

Commons : Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Current lists of parties to multilateral air law treaties. Retrieved May 27, 2019 .
  2. ↑ With notification of June 30, 2009 (State Letter 009/047), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) pursuant to Article 24 Paragraph 2 of the Convention of May 28, 1999 for the Unification of Certain Regulations for Carriage by International Air Traffic (Montreal Convention) (BGBl. 2004 II p. 458, 1027) communicated that according to the simplified procedure provided there, an adjustment of the maximum limits for liability for damage to passengers and goods according to this convention to the rate of price increase of 13.1 percent that has been recorded since then is to take place. After a majority of the contracting states did not object to the notified increase, the new maximum liability limits will come into force on December 30, 2009 following the further notification of the ICAO of November 4, 2009 (State Letter 009/087). [Quotation from Federal Council document 76/10, February 12, 2010]
  3. ↑ Hans-Georg Bollweg: New maximum limits and minimum amounts insured in aviation liability , Reiserecht aktuell (RRa) 05/2010, 202
  4. ↑ Passenger rights in the event of delay, loss or damage to baggage. May 24, 2018, accessed on July 16, 2018 (German).
  5. ↑ 2019 Revised Limits of Liability Under the Montreal Convention of 1999. Retrieved February 3, 2020 .

literature

  • Koller: Transport law. Commentary , 9th edition, CH Beck, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3406701139 (Commentary on the WA, ZAG and MÜ, but only with regard to freight transport)
  • Hartenstein, Olaf / Reuschle, Fabian (ed.), Handbook of the specialist lawyer for transport and forwarding law , 3rd edition, Cologne 2014, Verlag Carl Heymanns, ISBN 978-3452281425 (only for freight transport)
  • Munich Commentary on the HGB, Vol. 7 - Transport Law, 3rd edition, 10/2014, Beck-Verlag Munich [Note: with commentary on ADSp 2003, CMR, MÜ, CMNI, COTIF and the new German sea trade law!]
  • Elmar Giemulla, Ronald Schmid: Frankfurt commentary on aviation law. Vol. 1-4. Commentary , loose-leaf collection, Luchterhand Verlag, Cologne, ISBN 978-3-472-70430-0
  • Reuschle, Fabian: Montreal Convention. Commentary , 2nd edition Berlin-New York 2011, Verlag de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-025913-1
  • Tonner, Klaus: The EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation and the Montreal Convention , Consumers and Law (VuR) 2011, 203 ( PDF file ; 152 kB)

Web links