WARSAW CONVENTION

DATE
OF
EFFECTIVI
TY
SCOPE

LIABILITY

MONTREAL CONVENTION

October 12, 1929

Ratified in the Philippines on November 9, 1959 and
took effect on February 7, 1951

May 28, 1999

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.
Article 17
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.
Article 18
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.
Article 19
The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in
the carriage by air of passengers, luggage or goods.

This Convention applies to all international carriage of persons,

baggage or cargo performed by aircraft for reward. It applies
equally to gratuitous carriage by aircraft performed by an air
transport undertaking.
Article 17 - Death and injury of passengers - damage to baggage
1. The carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of death or
bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that 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.
2. The carrier liable for damage sustained in case of destruction or
loss of, or of damage to, checked baggage upon condition only
that 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. However, the
carrier is not liable if and to the extent that the damage resulted
from the inherent defect, quality or vice of the baggage. In the
case of unchecked baggage, including personal items, the carrier
is liable if the damage resulted from its fault or that of its servants
or agents.
3. If the carrier admits the loss of the checked baggage, or if the
checked baggage has not arrived at the expiration of twenty-one
days after the date on which it ought to have arrived, the
passenger is entitled to enforce against the carrier the rights
which flow from the contract of carriage.
4. Unless otherwise specified, in this Convention the term
"baggage" means both checked baggage and unchecked
baggage.
Article 18 - Damage to cargo
1. The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of the
destruction or loss of or damage to, cargo upon condition only
that the event which caused the damage so sustained took place
during the carriage by air.
2. However, the carrier is not liable if and to the extent it proves
that the destruction, or loss of, or damage to, the cargo resulted
from one or more of the following:
(a) inherent defect, quality or vice of that cargo;
(b) defective packing of that cargo performed by a person other

EXONERATI
ON
OF
LIABILITY

Article 20
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.
Article 21
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.

than the carrier or its servants or agents;

(c) an act of war or an armed conflict;
(d) an act of public authority carried out in connection with the
entry, exit or transit of the cargo.
3. The carriage by air within the meaning of paragraph 1 of this
Article comprises the period during which the cargo is in the
charge of the carrier.
4. The period of the carriage by air does not extend to any
carriage by land, by sea or by inland waterway performed outside
an airport. If, however, such carriage takes place in the
performance of a contract for carriage by air, for the purpose of
loading, delivery or transhipment, 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. If a carrier,
without the consent of the consignor, substitutes carriage by
another mode of transport for the whole or part of a carriage
intended by the agreement between the parties to be carriage by
air, such carriage by another mode of transport is deemed to be
within the period of carriage by air.
Article 19 - Delay
The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the
carriage by air of passengers, baggage or cargo. Nevertheless, the
carrier shall not be liable for damage occasioned by delay if it
proves that it and its servants and agents took all measures that
could reasonably be required to avoid the damage or that it was
impossible for it or them to take such measures.
Article 20 - Exoneration
If the carrier proves that the damage was caused or contributed to
by the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of the person
claiming compensation, or the person from whom he or she
derives his or her rights, the carrier shall be wholly or partly
exonerated from its liability to the claimant to the extent that
such negligence or wrongful act or omission caused or contributed
to the damage. When by reason of death or injury of a passenger
compensation is claimed by a person other than the passenger,
the carrier shall likewise be wholly or partly exonerated from its
liability to the extent that it proves that the damage was caused
or contributed to by the negligence or other wrongful act or
omission of that passenger. This Article applies to all the liability
provisions in this Convention, including paragraph 1 of Article 21.

NOTICE OF
CLAIM

DAMAGES

Article 26
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.
Article 22
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.

Article 31 - Timely notice of complaints

1. Receipt by the person entitled to delivery of checked baggage
or cargo without complaint is prima facie evidence that the same
has been delivered in good condition and in accordance with the
document of carriage or with the record preserved by the other
means referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 3 and paragraph 2 of
Article 4.
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 seven days from the date of
receipt in the case of checked baggage and fourteen days from
the date of receipt in the case of cargo. In the case of delay, the
complaint must be made at the latest within twenty-one days
from the date on which the baggage or cargo have been placed at
his or her disposal.
3. Every complaint must be made in writing and given or
dispatched within the times aforesaid.
4. If no complaint is made within the times aforesaid, no action
shall lie against the carrier, save in the case of fraud on its part.
Article 21 - Compensation in case of death or injury of passengers
1. For damages arising under paragraph 1 of Article 17 not
exceeding 100,000 Special Drawing Rights for each passenger,
the carrier shall not be able to exclude or limit its liability.
2. The carrier shall not be liable for damages arising under
paragraph 1 of Article 17 to the extent that they exceed for each
passenger 100,000 Special Drawing Rights if the carrier proves
that:
(a) such damage was not due to the negligence or other wrongful
act or omission of the carrier or its servants or agents; or
(b) such damage was solely due to the negligence or other
wrongful act or omission of a third party.
Article 22 - Limits of liability in relation to delay, baggage and
cargo
1. In the case of damage caused by delay as specified in Article
19 in the carriage of persons, the liability of the carrier for each
passenger is limited to 4,150 Special Drawing Rights.
2. In the carriage of baggage, the liability of the carrier in the case
of destruction, loss, damage or delay is limited to 1,000 Special
Drawing Rights for each passenger unless the passenger has
made, at the time when the checked baggage was handed over to
the carrier, a special declaration of interest in delivery at
destination and has paid a supplementary sum if the case so

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.

requires. In that case the carrier will be liable to pay a sum not
exceeding the declared sum, unless it proves that the sum is
greater than the passenger's actual interest in delivery at
destination.
3. In the carriage of cargo, the liability of the carrier in the case of
destruction, loss, damage or delay is limited to a sum of 17
Special Drawing Rights per kilogram, unless the consignor has
made, at the time when the package was handed over to the
carrier, a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination
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 it proves that the sum is greater than the
consignor's actual interest in delivery at destination.
4. In the case of destruction, loss, damage or delay of part of the
cargo, or of any object contained therein, the weight to be taken
into consideration in determining the amount to which the
carrier's liability is limited shall be only the total weight of the
package or packages concerned. Nevertheless, when the
destruction, loss, damage or delay of a part of the cargo, or of an
object contained therein, affects the value of other packages
covered by the same air waybill, or the same receipt or, if they
were not issued, by the same record preserved by the other
means referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 4, the total weight of
such package or packages shall also be taken into consideration in
determining the limit of liability.
5. The foregoing provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article
shall not apply if it is proved that the damage resulted from an act
or omission of the carrier, its servants or agents, done with intent
to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that damage
would probably result; provided that, in the case of such act or
omission of a servant or agent, it is also proved that such servant
or agent was acting within the scope of its employment.
6. The limits prescribed in Article 21 and in this Article shall not
prevent the court from awarding, in accordance with its own law,
in addition, the whole or part of the court costs and of the other
expenses of the litigation incurred by the plaintiff, including
interest. The foregoing provision shall not apply if the amount of
the damages awarded, excluding court costs and other expenses
of the litigation, does not exceed the sum which the carrier has
offered in writing to the plaintiff within a period of six months from
the date of the occurrence causing the damage, or before the
commencement of the action, if that is later.

PRESCRIPT
IVE
PERIOD

VENUE OF
ACTIONS
(COURTS)

Article 29
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.
Article 28
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.

Article 35 - Limitation of actions

1. The right to damages shall be 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.
2. The method of calculating that period shall be determined by
the law of the court seized of the case.
Article 33 - Jurisdiction
1. An action for damages must be brought, at the option of the
plaintiff, in the territory of one of the States Parties, either before
the court of the domicile of the carrier or of its principal place of
business, or where it has a place of business through which the
contract has been made or before the court at the place of
destination.
2. In respect of damage resulting from the death or injury of a
passenger, an action may be brought before one of the courts
mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article, or in the territory of a
State Party in which at the time of the accident the passenger has
his or her principal and permanent residence and to or from which
the carrier operates services for the carriage of passengers by air,
either on its own aircraft or on another carrier's aircraft pursuant
to a commercial agreement, and in which that carrier conducts its
business of carriage of passengers by air from premises leased or
owned by the carrier itself or by another carrier with which it has
a commercial agreement.
3. For the purposes of paragraph 2,
(a) "commercial agreement" means an agreement, other than an
agency agreement, made between carriers and relating to the
provision of their joint services for carriage of passengers by air;
(b) "principal and permanent residence" means the one fixed and
permanent abode of the passenger at the time of the accident.
The nationality of the passenger shall not be the determining
factor in this regard.
4. Questions of procedure shall be governed by the law of the
court seized of the case.