FIRST SCHEDULE
Section 2
THE WARSAW CONVENTION WITH THE AMENDMENTS MADE TO IT
Warsaw Convention
“Warsaw Convention” means the original Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air opened for signature at Warsaw on 12 October 1929, the text of which is set out in the Second Schedule;
BY THE HAGUE PROTOCOL
Hague Protocol
“Hague Protocol” means the Protocol to amend the Warsaw Convention opened for signature at the Hague on 28 September 1955;
(Words in square brackets in the text are words substituted for or added to the
original Warsaw Convention by Chapter I of the Hague Protocol.)
CONVENTION FOR THE UNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES
RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL CARRIAGE BY AIR
CHAPTER I
SCOPE — DEFINITIONS
Article 1
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.
[(2)
For the purposes of this Convention, the expression “international
carriage” means any carriage in which, according to the agreement between 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 the territory of
another State, even if that State is not a High Contracting Party. Carriage between
two points within the territory of a single High Contracting Party without an
agreed stopping place within the territory of another State is not international
carriage for the purposes of this Convention.
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 the territory of the same State.]
Article 2
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 shall not apply to carriage of mail and postal packages.]
CHAPTER II
DOCUMENTS OF CARRIAGE
SECTION 1 — PASSENGER TICKET
Article 3
[(1)
In respect of the carriage of passengers a ticket shall be delivered
containing:
an indication of the places of departure and destination;
if the places of departure and destination are within the territory of a
single High Contracting Party, one or more agreed stopping places
being within the territory of another State, an indication of at least
one such stopping place;
a notice to the effect that, if the passenger’s journey involves an
ultimate destination or stop in a country other than the country of
departure, the Warsaw Convention may be applicable and that the
Convention governs and in most cases limits the liability of carriers
for death or personal injury and in respect of loss of or damage to
baggage.
The passenger ticket shall constitute prima facie evidence of the conclusion
and conditions of the contract of carriage. The absence, irregularity or loss of the
passenger ticket does not affect the existence or the validity of the contract of
carriage which shall, none the less, be subject to the rules of this Convention.
Nevertheless, if, with the consent of the carrier, the passenger embarks without a
passenger ticket having been delivered, or if the ticket does not include the notice
required by paragraph (1)(c) of this Article, the carrier shall not be entitled to
avail himself of the provisions of Article 22.]
SECTION 2 — BAGGAGE CHECK
Article 4
[(1) In respect of the carriage of registered baggage, a baggage check shall be
delivered, which, unless combined with or incorporated in a passenger ticket
which complies with the provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1), shall contain:
an indication of the places of departure and destination;
if the places of departure and destination are within the territory of a
single High Contracting Party, one or more agreed stopping places
being within the territory of another State, an indication of at least
one such stopping place;
a notice to the effect that, if the carriage involves an ultimate
destination or stop in a country other than the country of departure,
the Warsaw Convention may be applicable and that the Convention
governs and in most cases limits the liability of carriers in respect of
loss of or damage to baggage.
The baggage check shall constitute prima facie evidence of the registration
of the baggage and of the conditions of the contract of carriage. The absence,
irregularity or loss of the baggage check does not affect the existence or the
validity of the contract of carriage which shall, none the less, be subject to the
rules of this Convention. Nevertheless, if the carrier takes charge of the baggage
without a baggage check having been delivered or if the baggage check (unless
combined with or incorporated in the passenger ticket which complies with the
provisions of Article 3, paragraph (1)(c)) does not include the notice required by
paragraph (1)(c) of this Article, he shall not be entitled to avail himself of the
provisions of Article 22, paragraph (2).]
SECTION 3 — AIR WAYBILL
Article 5
Every carrier of cargo has the right to require the consignor to make out and
hand over to him a document called an “air waybill”; 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.
Article 6
The air waybill shall be made out by the consignor in three original parts and
be handed over with the cargo.
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 cargo. The third part
shall be signed by the carrier and handed by him to the consignor after the cargo
has been accepted.
[(3) The carrier shall sign prior to the loading of the cargo on board the aircraft.]
The signature of the carrier may be stamped; that of the consignor may be
printed or stamped.
If, at the request of the consignor, the carrier makes out the air waybill, he
shall be deemed, subject to proof to the contrary, to have done so on behalf of the
consignor.
Article 7
The carrier of cargo has the right to require the consignor to make out separate
waybills when there is more than one package.
Article 8
[The air waybill shall contain:
an indication of the places of departure and destination;
if the places of departure and destination are within the territory of a
single High Contracting Party, one or more agreed stopping places
being within the territory of another State, an indication of at least
one such stopping place;
a notice to the consignor to the effect that, if the carriage involves an
ultimate destination or stop in a country other than the country of
departure, the Warsaw Convention may be applicable and that the
Convention governs and in most cases limits the liability of carriers
in respect of loss of or damage to cargo.]
Article 9
[If, with the consent of the carrier, cargo is loaded on board the aircraft without
an air waybill having been made out, or if the air waybill does not include the
notice required by Article 8, paragraph (c), the carrier shall not be entitled to
avail himself of the provisions of Article 22, paragraph (2).]
Article 10
The consignor is responsible for the correctness of the particulars and
statements relating to the cargo which he inserts in the air waybill.
[(2) The consignor shall indemnify the carrier against all damage suffered by
him, or by any other person to whom the carrier is liable, by reason of the
irregularity, incorrectness or incompleteness of the particulars and statements
furnished by the consignor.]
Article 11
The air waybill is prima facie evidence of the conclusion of the contract, of
the receipt of the cargo and of the conditions of carriage.
The statements in the air waybill relating to the weight, dimensions and
packing of the cargo, 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 cargo do not constitute evidence against the carrier except so
far as they both have been and are stated in the air waybill to have been, checked
by him in the presence of the consignor, or relate to the apparent condition of the
cargo.
Article 12
Subject to his liability to carry out all his obligations under the contract of
carriage, the consignor has the right to dispose of the cargo by withdrawing it at
the aerodrome of departure or destination, or by stopping it in the course of the
journey on any landing, or by calling for it to be delivered at the place of
destination or in the course of the journey to a person other than the consignee
named in the air waybill, or by requiring it 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.
If it is impossible to carry out the orders of the consignor the carrier must so
inform him forthwith.
If the carrier obeys the orders of the consignor for the disposition of the
cargo without requiring the production of the part of the air waybill 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 waybill.
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 air waybill or the cargo, or if he cannot be communicated
with, the consignor resumes his right of disposition.
Article 13
Except in the circumstances set out in the preceding Article, the consignee is
entitled, on arrival of the cargo at the place of destination, to require the carrier to
hand over to him the air waybill and to deliver the cargo to him, on payment of
the charges due and on complying with the conditions of carriage set out in the
air waybill.
Unless it is otherwise agreed, it is the duty of the carrier to give notice to the
consignee as soon as the cargo arrives.
If the carrier admits the loss of the cargo, or if the cargo has not arrived at the
expiration of 7 days after the date on which it ought to have arrived, the
consignee is entitled to put into force against the carrier the rights which flow
from the contract of carriage.
Article 14
The consignor and the consignee can respectively enforce all the rights given
them by Articles 12 and 13, each in his own name, 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.
Article 15
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.
The provisions of Articles 12, 13 and 14 can only be varied by express
provision in the air waybill.
[(3) Nothing in this Convention prevents the issue of a negotiable air waybill.]
Article 16
The consignor must furnish such information and attach to the air waybill
such documents as are necessary to meet the formalities of customs, octroi or
police before the cargo 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 servants or 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
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
The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of the destruction or
loss of, or of damage to, any registered baggage or any cargo, 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 baggage or cargo is 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.
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 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.
Article 19
The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of
passengers, baggage or cargo.
Article 20
The carrier is not liable if he proves that he and his servants and agents have
taken all necessary measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for
him and them to take such measures.
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
court
“court”, in an arbitration allowed by the Warsaw Convention, the Warsaw (Hague) Convention or the Warsaw (Hague) (Montreal) Convention, includes an arbitrator;
of its own law, exonerate the carrier wholly or partly from his liability.
Article 22
[(1) In the carriage of persons the liability of the carrier for each passenger is
limited to the sum of 250,000 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
250,000 francs. Nevertheless, by special contract, the carrier and the passenger
may agree to a higher limit of liability.
(a) In the carriage of registered baggage and of cargo, the liability of the
carrier is limited to a sum of 250 francs per kilogramme, unless the passenger or
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 he proves that that sum is
greater than the passenger’s or consignor’s actual interest in delivery at
destination.
In the case of loss, damage or delay of part of registered baggage or 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 loss,
damage or delay of a part of the registered baggage or cargo or of an object
contained therein, affects the value of other packages covered by the same
baggage check or the same air waybill, the total weight of such package or
packages shall also be taken into consideration in determining the limit of
liability.
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 limits prescribed 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.
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
6 months from the date of the occurrence causing the damage, or before the
commencement of the action, if that is later.
The sums mentioned in francs in this Article shall be deemed to refer to a
currency unit consisting of 651/2 milligrammes of gold of millesimal
fineness 900. These sums may be converted into national currencies in round
figures. Conversion of the sums into national currencies other than gold shall, in
case of judicial proceedings, be made according to the gold value of such
currencies at the date of the judgment.]
Article 23
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.
[(2) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to provisions governing loss or
damage resulting from the inherent defect, quality or vice of the cargo carried.]
Article 24
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.
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.
Article 25
[The limits of liability specified in Article 22 shall not apply if it is proved that
the damage resulted from an act or omission of the carrier, his 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 he was acting within the scope of his
employment.]
[Article 25A
If an action is brought against a servant or agent of the carrier arising out of
damage to which this Convention relates, such servant or agent, if he proves that
he acted within the scope of his employment, shall be entitled to avail himself of
the limits of liability which that carrier himself is entitled to invoke under
Article 22.
The aggregate of the amounts recoverable from the carrier, his servants and
agents, in that case, shall not exceed the said limits.
The 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 servant or agent
done with intent to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that damage
would probably result.]
Article 26
Receipt by the person entitled to delivery of 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.
[(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 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 has been placed at his disposal.]
Every complaint must be made in writing upon the document of carriage or
by separate notice in writing despatched within the times aforesaid.
Failing complaint within the times aforesaid, no action shall lie against the
carrier, save in the case of fraud on his part.
Article 27
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.
Article 28
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.
Questions of procedure shall be governed by the law of the court seised of
the case.
Article 29
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.
The method of calculating the period of limitation shall be determined by
the law of the court seised of the case.
Article 30
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, baggage or cargo 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.
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.
As regards baggage or cargo, 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
Article 31
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.
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
Article 32
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 cargo 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.
Article 33
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.
Article 34
[The provisions of Articles 3 to 9 inclusive relating to documents of carriage
shall not apply in the case of carriage performed in extraordinary circumstances
outside the normal scope of an air carrier’s business.]
Article 35
The expression “days” when used in this Convention means current days not
working days.
Article 36
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.
Article 37
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.
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.
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.
Article 38
(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.
Article 39
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.
Article 40
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 name 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.
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.
[Article 40A
In Article 37, paragraph (2), and Article 40, paragraph (1), the expression
High Contracting Party shall mean State. In all other cases, the expression High
Contracting Party shall mean a State whose ratification of or adherence to the
Convention has become effective and whose denunciation thereof has not
become effective.
For the purposes of the Convention the word territory means not only the
metropolitan territory of a State but also all other territories for the foreign
relations of which that State is responsible.]
Article 41
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.
ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL
(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 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.