Warsaw Convention

This article is about Convention on carriage by air. For Cold War defense treaty, see Warsaw Pact.

Warsaw Convention

Convention for the Unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air
Signed	12 October 1929
Location	Warsaw
Effective	13 February 1933
Parties	152
Depositary	Government of Poland
Language	French

The Warsaw Convention is an international convention which regulates liability for international carriage of persons, luggage or goods performed by aircraft for reward.

Originally signed in 1929 in Warsaw (hence the name), it was amended in 1955 at The Hague and in 1975 in Montreal. United States courts have held that, at least for some purposes, the Warsaw Convention is a different instrument from the Warsaw Convention as Amended by the Hague Protocol.

There are 5 chapters of the document:

• Chapter I - Definitions
• Chapter II - Documents of Carriage; Luggage and Passenger Ticket
• Chapter III - Liability of the Carrier
• Chapter IV - Provisions Relating to Combined Carriage
• Chapter V - General and Final Provisions

The Convention was written originally in French and the original of ratification shall be deposited in the archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Poland.

In particular, the Warsaw Convention:

• mandates carriers to issue passenger tickets;
• requires carriers to issue baggage checks for checked luggage;
• creates a limitation period of 2 years within which a claim must be brought (Article 29); and
• limits a carrier's liability to at most:
  • 250,000 Francs or 16,600 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) for personal injury;
  • 17 SDR per kilogram for checked luggage and cargo, or $20USD per kilogram for non-signatories of the amended Montreal Protocols. .....
  • 5,000 Francs or 332 SDR for the hand luggage of a traveller.

The sums limiting liability were originally given in Gold francs (defined in terms of a particular quantity of gold by article 22 paragraph 5 of the convention). These sums were amended by the Montreal Additional Protocol No. 2 to substitute an expression given in terms of SDR's. These sums are valid in the absence of a differing agreement (on a higher sum) with the carrier. Agreements on lower sums are null and void.

On June 1, 2009, the exchange rate was 1.00 SDR = 1.088 EUR or 1.00 SDR = 1.548 USD.

A court may also award a claiming party's costs, unless the carrier made an offer within 6 months of the loss (or at least 6 months before the beginning of any legal proceedings) which the claiming party has failed to beat.

The Montreal Convention, signed in 1999, replaced the Warsaw Convention system.

See also

• Aviation Law
• CMR convention
• Kenneth Beaumont
• Montreal Convention

External links

• "WarsawConvention.org"
• Text of the Warsaw Convention at the US Dpt of Transportation
• Beginner's guide to the Warsaw Convention
• NEW IATA Air Waybill Conditions of Contract