Montreal Convention
| Convention for the Unification of certain rules for international carriage by air | |
|---|---|
| Signed | 28 May 1999 |
| Location | Montreal, Canada |
| Effective | 4 November 2003 |
| Parties | 120 (119 states + EU) |
| Depositary | International Civil Aviation Organization |
| Languages | English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish |
The Montreal Convention (formally, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air) is a multilateral treaty adopted by a diplomatic meeting of ICAO member states in 1999. It amended important provisions of the Warsaw Convention's regime concerning compensation for the victims of air disasters. The Convention attempts to re-establish uniformity and predictability of rules relating to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo. Whilst maintaining the core provisions which have served the international air transport community for several decades (i.e., the Warsaw regime), the new treaty achieves modernization in a number of key areas. It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier liability system that eliminates the previous requirement of proving willful neglect by the air carrier to obtain more than US$75,000 in damages, which should eliminate or reduce protracted litigation.
Under the Montreal Convention, air carriers are strictly liable for proven damages up to 100,000 special drawing rights (SDR), a mix of currency values established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Where damages of more than 113,100 SDR are sought, the airline may avoid liability by proving that the accident which caused the injury or death was not due to their negligence or was attributable to the negligence of a third party. This defence is not available where damages of less than 113,100 SDR are sought. The Convention also amended the jurisdictional provisions of Warsaw and now allows the victim or their families to sue foreign carriers where they maintain their principal residence, and requires all air carriers to carry liability insurance.
The Montreal Convention was brought about mainly to amend liabilities to be paid to families for death or injury whilst on board an aircraft.
The Convention refuses to pay any compensation for psychiatric injury or damage unless inextricably linked to the physical injury. Purely psychiatric injury is not eligible for compensation which has been criticised by people injured in plane accidents, legal experts and their families.
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