The Montreal Convention, formally the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage, is a 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 re-establishes urgently needed uniformity and predictability of rules relating to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo. It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier liability system and by facilitating the swift recovery of proven damages without the need for lengthy 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), approximately $138,000 per passenger at the time of its ratification. Where damages of more than 100,000 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 100,000 SDR are sought. The Convention also requires all air carriers to carry liability insurance.
As of December 2008, there were 87 signatories to the Montreal Convention, including the United States, European Union (EU), Canada, China, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Since the Air France flight was international, the Montreal Convention governs all of the claims that may be filed by family members of the passengers. Under the Convention, as long as a crash was caused by an accident, the airline is automatically liable, up to a point.
As Air France 447 passengers are positively identified and probable cause of the crash determined over the upcoming days and weeks, whether or not Air France is deemed at fault - aviation civil suits are bound to ensue.
The Montreal Convention will be an important factor in determining the ultimate liabilty of the airline.
UPDATE: MONDAY JUNE 15TH, 2009
Air France is to receive an insurance cheque of $93.4m for the loss of its Airbus A330 over the Atlantic, one of its insurers said on Monday.
The crashed aircraft was covered by several insurers including Axa Corporate Solutions, which is to pay out 12.5% of the total bill, a spokesperson for the insurance firm said.
Under the terms of the Montreal Convention, the carrier Air France is also responsible for compensating the families of the 228 people lost in the June 1 Rio to Paris crash, and has separate insurance for the cost of doing so.
Asked about compensation for relatives, the Axa spokesperson said it was "too soon to give a realistic figure".
She said: "All entitled persons have yet to come forward, and as a result it has not yet been possible to evaluate the totality of individual situations."
Brazilian and French navy crews have so far recovered the bodies of 44 crash victims off Brazil's coast.
SOURCE: The Guardian | 'Montreal Convention' Wikipedia Page
