Carriage by Air Act

Jurisdiction
Zimbabwe
Citation
Chapter 13:04
Date
31 December 2016
Language
English
Type
Legislation
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Download PDF (262.7 KB)
Zimbabwe

Carriage by Air Act

Chapter 13:04

  • Published in Government Gazette
  • Commenced on 11 May 1934
  • [This is the version of this document at 31 December 2016 and includes any amendments published up to 31 December 2017.]
  • [Note: This version of the Act was revised and consolidated by the Law Development Commission of Zimbabwe]
AN ACT to enable effect to be given to the Warsaw Convention of 1929, as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955, concerning international carriage by air; to enable effect to be given to the Convention supplementary to the Warsaw Convention, for the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air performed by a person other than the contracting carrier; to enable the rules contained in those Conventions to be applied, with or without modification, in other cases and, in particular, to non-international carriage by air; and to provide for matters connected with or incidential to the foregoing.

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Carriage by Air Act [Chapter 13:04].

2. Interpretation

(1)In this Act—“Convention” means the Warsaw Convention of 1929, as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955, concerning international carriage by air;“court” includes, in an arbitration allowed by the Convention, an arbitrator;“Supplementary Convention” means the Convention supplementary to the Warsaw Convention, for the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air performed by a person other than the contracting carrier, signed at Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1961;“wrongdoer” means a person who has been or might be held liable in delict for loss or damage.
(2)In the Supplementary Convention, “the Warsaw Convention” means the Warsaw Convention of 1929, as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955, concerning international carriage by air.

3. Conventions to have force of law

The Convention, a translation of which is set out in the First Schedule, and the Supplementary Convention, a translation of which is set out in the Second Schedule, shall, so far as they relate to the rights and liabilities of carriers, carriers’ servants and agents, passengers, consignors, consignees and other persons, and subject to the provisions of this Act, have the force of law in Zimbabwe in relation to any carriage by air to which those Conventions apply, irrespective of the nationality of the aircraft performing that carriage.

4. Designation of High Contracting Parties

(1)The President may from time to time, by proclamation in a statutory instrument, declare who are the High Contracting Parties to the Convention, in respect of what territories they are respectively parties and to what extent they have availed themselves of the Additional Protocol at the end of the Convention.
(2)Paragraph (2) of Article 40A of the Convention shall not be read as extending references in the Convention to the territory of a High Contracting Party, except such as are references to the territory of any state, whether a High Contracting Party or not, to include any territory in respect of which that High Contracting Party is not a party.
(3)A proclamation under this section shall, except in so far as it has been superseded by a subsequent proclamation, be conclusive evidence of the matters so declared.
(4)A proclamation under this section may contain such transitional and other consequential provisions as appear to the President to be expedient.

5. Fatal accidents

The reference in Article 17 of the Convention to the liability of a carrier for damage sustained in the event of the death of a passenger shall be construed as including liability to such persons as are entitled, apart from this Act, to sue the carrier in respect of the death.

6. Division of amount recovered

Subject to section eight, in any action brought in Zimbabwe to enforce liability under Article 17 of the Convention in respect of the death of any one passenger the amount recovered shall be divided between the successful claimants in such manner as the court may deem just.

7. Limitation of liability

(1)It is hereby declared that the limitations on liability in Article 22 of the Convention apply whatever the nature of the proceedings by which liability may be enforced and that, in particular—
(a)those limitations apply where proceedings are brought by a wrongdoer to obtain a contribution from another wrongdoer; and
(b)the limitation for each passenger in paragraph (1) of that Article applies to the aggregate liability of the carrier in all proceedings which may be brought against him in Zimbabwe together with any proceedings brought against him outside Zimbabwe.
(2)A court before which proceedings are brought to enforce a liability which is limited by Article 22 of the Convention may at any stage of the proceedings make any such order as appears to the court to be just and equitable in view of that Article, and of any other proceedings which have been, or are likely to be, commenced in Zimbabwe or elsewhere to enforce the liability in whole or in part.
(3)Without prejudice to subsection (2), a court before which proceedings are brought to enforce a liability which is limited by Article 22 of the Convention shall, where the liability is, or may be, partly enforceable in other proceedings in Zimbabwe or elsewhere, have jurisdiction to award an amount less than the court would have awarded if the limitation applied solely to the proceedings before the court, or to make any part of its award conditional on the result of any other proceedings.
(4)The Minister may from time to time, by statutory instrument, specify the respective amounts which for the purposes of Article 22 of the Convention, and in particular of paragraph (5) of that Article, are to be taken as equivalent to the sums expressed in francs which are mentioned in that Article.
(5)References in this section to Article 22 of the Convention include, subject to any necessary modifications, references to that Article as applied by Article 25A of the Convention, and references in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and in subsections (2) and (3) to Article 22 of the Convention include, subject to any necessary modifications, references to Article VI of the Supplementary Convention.

8. Time for bringing proceedings

(1)No action against a carrier’s servant or agent which arises out of damage to which the Convention relates shall, if he was acting within the scope of his employment, be brought after more than 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)Article 29 of the Convention shall not be read as applying to any proceedings for contribution between wrongdoers, but no action shall be brought by a wrongdoer to obtain a contribution from a carrier in respect of a delict to which that Article applies after the expiration of two years from the time when judgment is obtained against the person seeking to obtain the contribution.
(3)Subsections (1) and (2) and Article 29 of the Convention shall have effect as if references in those provisions to an action included references to an arbitration; and for the purpose of this subsection an arbitration shall be deemed to be commenced when one party to the arbitration serves on the other party or parties a notice requiring him or them to appoint an arbitrator or to agree to the appointment of an arbitrator or, where the submission provides that the reference shall be to a person named or designated in the submission, requiring him or them to submit the dispute to the person so named or designated.
(4)In this section, references to a carrier include references to an actual carrier as defined in paragraph (c) of Article I of the Supplementary Convention as well as to a contracting carrier as defined in paragraph (b) of that Article.

9. Power to exclude aircraft in use for military purposes

(1)The President may from time to time, by a statutory instrument, direct that this section shall apply, or shall cease to apply, to Zimbabwe or any other state specified in the proclamation.
(2)The Convention shall not apply to the carriage of persons, cargo and baggage for the military authorities of a State to which this section applies in aircraft registered in that state if the whole capacity of the aircraft has been reserved by or on behalf of those authorities.

10. Actions against High Contracting Parties

Every High Contracting Party to the Convention who has not availed himself of the Additional Protocol at the end of the Convention shall, for the purposes of any action brought in a court in Zimbabwe in accordance with Article 28 of the Convention or Article VIII of the Supplementary Convention to enforce a claim in respect of carriage undertaken by him, be deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of that court, and accordingly rules of court may provide for the manner in which any such action is to be commenced and carried on; but nothing in this section shall authorize the issue of execution against the property of any High Contracting Party.

11. Application to carriage by air not governed by Conventions

(1)The President may, by statutory instrument, apply any provisions of the Convention or the Supplementary Convention and any of the provisions of this Act, to carriage by air, not being carriage by air to which those Conventions apply, of such descriptions as may be specified in the proclamation, subject to such exceptions, adaptations and modifications, if any, as may be so specified.
(2)A proclamation under this section may contain such transitional and other consequential provisions as appear to the President to be expedient, and may confer any functions under the proclamation on a Minister, including a power to grant exemptions from any requirements imposed by such a proclamation.

12. Application to State

This Act shall bind the State.

First Schedule (Section 3)

The Warsaw Convention with the amendments made in it by the Hague Protocol

(The English text)

Convention

For the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air

Chapter I
Scope — definitions

Article 1

(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 trans-shipment, 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.
(3)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

(1)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:
(a)an indication of the places of departure and destination;
(b)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;
(c)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.
(2)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:
(a)an indication of the places of departure and destination;
(b)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;
(c)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.
(2)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

(1)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

(1)The air waybill shall be made out by the consignor in three original parts and be handed over with the cargo.
(2)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.
(4)The signature of the carrier may be stamped; that of the consignor may be printed or stamped.
(5)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:
(a)an indication of the places of departure and destination;
(b)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;
(c)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

(1)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

(1)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.
(2)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

(1)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.
(2)If it is impossible to carry out the orders of the consignor the carrier must so inform him forthwith.
(3)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.
(4)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 waybill or the cargo, or if he cannot be communicated with, the consignor resumes his right of disposition.

Article 13

(1)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.
(2)Unless it is otherwise agreed, it is the duty of the carrier to give notice to the consignee as soon as the cargo arrives.
(3)If the carrier admits the loss of the cargo, or if the cargo has not arrived at the expiration of seven 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 to 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

(1)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.
(2)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

(1)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 inquire 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

(1)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.
(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 trans-shipment, 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 or agents have taken all necessary measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for him or 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 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 two hundred and fifty thousand francs. Where, in accordance with the law of the court seized of the case, damages may be awarded in the form of periodical payments the equivalent capital value of the said payments shall not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand francs. Nevertheless, by special contract, the carrier and the passenger may agree to a higher limit of liability.
(2)
(a)In the carriage of registered baggage and of cargo, the liability of the carrier is limited to a sum of two hundred and fifty francs per kilogram, 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.
(b)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.
(3)As regards objects of which the passenger takes charge himself the liability of the carrier is limited to five thousand 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 six months from the date of the occurrence causing the damage, or before the commencement of the action, if that is later.
(5)The sums mentioned in francs in this Article shall be deemed to refer to a currency unit consisting of sixty-five and a half milligrams of gold of millesimal fineness nine hundred. 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

(1)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

(1)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.
(2)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

(1)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.
(2)The aggregate of the amounts recoverable from the carrier, his servants and agents, in that case, shall not exceed the said limits.
(3)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

(1)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.
(3)Every complaint must be made in writing upon the document of carriage or by separate notice in writing dispatched 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 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

(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 seized of the case.

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 seized of the case.

Article 30

(1)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 l, 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.
(2)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.
(3)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

(1)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.
(2)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 40A

(1)[This paragraph is not reproduced. It defines “High Contracting Party”.]
(2)For the purposes of the Convention the expression “territory” means not only metropolitan territory of a State but also all other territories for the foreign relations of which that State is responsible.[Articles 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 and the concluding words of the Convention are not reproduced. They deal with the coming into force of the Convention.][Please note: numbering as in original.]

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 the 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.

Second Schedule (Section 3)

Supplementary Convention

(The English text)

Convention

Supplementary to the Warsaw Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air performed by a person other than the contracting carrier

Article I

In this Convention:
(a)[This paragraph is not reproduced. It defines “Warsaw Convention”.]
(b)“contracting carrier” means a person who as a principal makes an agreement for carriage governed by the Warsaw Convention with a passenger or consignor or with a person acting on behalf of the passenger or consignor;
(c)“actual carrier” means a person, other than the contracting carrier, who, by virtue of authority from the contracting carrier, performs the whole or part of the carriage contemplated in paragraph (b) but who is not with respect to such part a successive carrier within the meaning of the Warsaw Convention. Such authority is presumed in the absence of proof to the contrary.

Article II

If an actual carrier performs the whole or part of carriage which, according to the agreement referred to in Article I, paragraph (b), is governed by the Warsaw Convention, both the contracting carrier and the actual carrier shall, except as otherwise provided in this Convention, be subject to the rules of the Warsaw Convention, the former for the whole of the carriage contemplated in the agreement, the latter solely for the carriage which he performs.

Article III

1.The acts and omissions of the actual carrier and of his servants and agents acting within the scope of their employment shall, in relation to the carriage performed by the actual carrier, be deemed to be also those of the contracting carrier.
2.The acts and omissions of the contracting carrier and of his servants and agents acting within the scope of their employment shall, in relation to the carriage performed by the actual carrier, be deemed to be also those of the actual carrier. Nevertheless, no such act or omission shall subject the actual carrier to liability exceeding the limits specified in Article 22 of the Warsaw Convention. Any special agreement under which the contracting carrier assumes obligations not imposed by the Warsaw Convention or any waiver of rights conferred by that Convention or any special declaration of interest in delivery at destination contemplated in Article 22 of the said Convention, shall not affect the actual carrier unless agreed to by him.

Article IV

Any complaint to be made or order to be given under the Warsaw Convention to the carrier shall have the same effect whether addressed to the contracting carrier or to the actual carrier. Nevertheless, orders referred to in Article 12 of the Warsaw Convention shall only be effective if addressed to the contracting carrier.

Article V

In relation to the carriage performed by the actual carrier, any servant or agent of that carrier or of the contracting carrier shall, if he proves that he acted within the scope of his employment, be entitled to avail himself of the limits of liability which are applicable under this Convention to the carrier whose servant or agent he is unless it is proved that he acted in a manner which, under the Warsaw Convention, prevents the limits of liability from being invoked.

Article VI

In relation to the carriage performed by the actual carrier, the aggregate of the amounts recoverable from that carrier and the contracting carrier, and from their servants and agents acting within the scope of their employment, shall not exceed the highest amount which could be awarded against either the contracting carrier or the actual carrier under this Convention, but none of the persons mentioned shall be liable for a sum in excess of the limit applicable to him.

Article VII

In relation to the carriage performed by the actual carrier, an action for damages may be brought, at the option of the plaintiff, against that carrier or the contracting carrier, or against both together or separately. If the action is brought against only one of those carriers, that carrier shall have the right to require the other carrier to be joined in the proceedings, the procedure and effects being governed by the law of the court seized of the case.

Article VIII

Any action for damages contemplated in Article VII of this Convention must be brought, at the option of the plaintiff, either before a court in which an action may be brought against the contracting carrier, as provided in Article 28 of the Warsaw Convention, or before the court having jurisdiction at the place where the actual carrier is ordinarily resident or has his principal place of business.

Article IX

1.Any contractual provision tending to relieve the contracting carrier or the actual carrier of liability under this Convention or to fix a lower limit than that which is applicable according to this Convention shall be null and void, but the nullity of any such provision does not involve the nullity of the whole agreement, which shall remain subject to the provisions of this Convention.
2.In respect of the carriage performed by the actual carrier, the preceding paragraph shall not apply to contractual provisions governing loss or damage resulting from the inherent defect, quality or vice of the cargo carried.
3.Any clause contained in an agreement for carriage 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 in one of the jurisdictions referred to in Article VIII.

Article X

Except as provided in Article VII, nothing in this Convention shall affect the rights and obligations of the two carriers between themselves.[Articles XI to XVIII and the concluding words of the Convention are not reproduced. They deal with the coming into force of the Convention and provide that in the case of inconsistency the text in French shall prevail.]
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History of this document

31 December 2016 this version
Consolidation
11 May 1934
Commenced