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The air cargo industry is evolving rapidly, as is its international law regime. The recent entry into force of the Montreal Protocol No. 4 and adoption of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air signed at Montreal on 28 May 1999 constitutes a new legal framework for air cargo claims. / Rather than offering definite answers, this thesis identifies some current and emerging issues in the law of air cargo claims, particularly those aspects that the claimant must prove. The work traces the development of the Warsaw System by writers and courts, and attempts to identify trends in the application and interpretation of the new legal framework. The evolution towards independence of the law of carriage of goods by air from other similar regimes, and the existing connections among them, are examined. When appropriate, common law and civil law solutions to some legal issues will be introduced. / Finally, the thesis concludes that conflicting decisions in this field could be avoided by adopting uniform rules to solve conflicts of laws and to interpret international carriage conventions.

The year 2003 marks the entering into force of the new Montreal Convention governing certain rules for international carriage by air. This, however, does not mean that the international community, including States, air carriers and their agents, passengers, shippers and consignors, insurance companies and the legal community in general (specially aviation lawyers and judges) shall only rely on this instrument. The Warsaw Convention and its complementary instruments, known as the Warsaw System, is still applicable and in certain circumstances, may be the only existing relation binding States and air carriers, especially in terms of liability and compensatory damages arising from an accident or delay. Good knowledge of the conflicts that may arise within the existing international legal framework is an asset for a successful civil aviation case consultancy or trial.

Article 17 in the Warsaw Convention 1929, the core provision to all liability for passenger injury and death, has been the most litigated Article of the Warsaw Convention. The main reason for this is that the Warsaw Convention, the axis of private international air law, unfortunately did not provide clear definitions regarding "accident" and "bodily injury" in the Article 17. Its amendments, the Hague Protocol 1955 and the Guatemala Protocol 1971, did not succeed in clarifying the meanings. Although the Montreal Conference 1999 witnessed strong debates regarding the amendment of Article 17, the Montreal Convention 1999 did not succeed in changing Article 17. Since the Warsaw System did not provide definitions of "accident" and "bodily injury", each State has interpreted the two terms individually. Inconsistency in interpreting "accident" and "bodily injury" has emerged, since every State has a different jurisprudence. This phenomenon has created confusion in the international air transport community. In order to clear up the confusion, the International Civil Aviation Organization should amend Article 17 to specify and clarify the terms: "accident" and "bodily injury", while balancing the interests of all parties in the international air transport community.

The primary intention of this thesis is to examine open skies policy and its far-reaching impact on the Asia-Pacific region. / In order to achieve this, we will describe the historic evolution of economic regulation in civil air transport, which laid the foundation for an open skies regime. Moreover, the scope of an open skies regime on a global scale is addressed. Then, a detailed study of the essential elements of bilateral open skies agreements is undertaken. / Afterwards, an analysis of the current economic air transport regulation in Asia-Pacific is conducted. With the emergence of the open skies trend, most Asia-Pacific nations began to liberalize their air transport industries. Yet, bilateral agreements remain the primary means to attain this goal. / More necessarily, several Asia-Pacific countries' air transport policies will be comprehensively examined. This examination includes Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia. / Finally, a perspective for liberalization via a hybrid of bilateral and sub-regional open skies arrangements in the Asia-Pacific region is presented.

The air transport industry is at present subject to dramatic traffic growth, which is expected to triple in the next 20 years. The industry must attempt to meet this unavoidable challenge by somehow accommodating the increase in passenger flow. This thesis proposes to examine how automation devices may assist in meeting this challenge by facilitating passenger clearance. They would do so by improving the lengthy, formalistic, and overly-bureaucratic, immigration and customs procedures. A myriad of different legal issues are engaged by these initiatives. Although many of them are mentioned throughout this thesis, the core legal analysis focuses on the challenge to privacy triggered by these endeavours, and the conflicting interests of individuals and industry players. Finally, a proposal to eliminate, or at least to reduce, this conflict is recommended.

No description available.

On 28 May 1999, ICAO successfully adopted a new Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, otherwise known as the Montreal Convention of 1999, which modernizes and consolidates the "Warsaw System". ICAO viewed the merger of several international instruments of private international air law into one legal instrument as a milestone in the history of international law making. However, the rules presented in the Montreal Convention represent principles not unique to the international airline community as they have been tested in the industry for nearly a decade. This thesis analyzes two such provisions, liability and jurisdiction. Chapter One presents the history of the "Warsaw System" and the individual and collective State and private air carrier actions which have given these two principles "face-lifts" throughout the years in order to update their antiquated and unjust effects. Additionally, Chapter One concludes with the drafting history of the Montreal Convention, specifically focusing on the liability and jurisdiction rules. Chapter Two analyzes the liability provisions and the effects that the new two-tier system with its strict liability up to $135,000 U.S. in the first tier and presumed fault---unlimited liability in the second tier will have on the States, carriers, and insurance premiums. Chapter Three explores the consequence of the inclusion of the fifth jurisdiction in the Montreal Convention, a concept which invoked much criticism, yet is not unique to most legal systems of the world. Chapter Three also examines the effects that the fifth jurisdiction coupled with the unlimited liability regime will have on States and carriers alike.

After international transportation by air became a reality, the need to fashion out an appropriate global regime to govern the new relationships created by this development led to the signing of the Warsaw Convention in 1929. As time went on, the need to adjust this original Convention to contemporary technological and legal realities necessitated the enactment of several other instruments that were not new Conventions in themselves, but were merely welded to the original 1929 Convention. With the absence of consolidation, the undesirable result was total confusion created by the concurrent operation of the multiple regimes of the Warsaw System. The overwhelming need to modernise and consolidate all instruments of the Warsaw system into a single uniform text culminated in the signing of the Montreal Convention on 28 May 1999. / This thesis attempts to x-ray the Montreal Convention in the light of its potentials to alleviate the numerous problems of the Warsaw system, including the prospects of its ratification. In the same vein, the inherent deficiencies and imperfections of this new instrument, which might militate against its ratification, have been overtly highlighted for reference. This treatise also analysed the need for developing and African nations to ratify the new convention notwithstanding that their interests were given minimal considerations. The conclusion is a call to all nations, particularly the US, to ratify this new convention without further procrastination, in order to enable it come into force without further delay, lest it become just another relic in the kitty of the very Warsaw System that it sought to replace.

On 31 November 2003 the 1999 Montreal Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air entered into force. Its purpose was to consolidate and modernize the Warsaw system and to reunify the provisions of several international instruments of private international air law under one legal instrument. The Montreal Convention consolidates the positive elements of the Warsaw Convention, the Hague Protocol, the Guadalajara Convention, the Guatemala City Protocol and Additional Protocol Numbers 3 and 4. It also simplifies and modernizes the requirements of documentation relating to the carriage by air of passengers, baggage and cargo. Most importantly, the Montreal Convention modernizes of the liability regime for death and injury to passengers by adopting the passenger liability regime in the IATA Inter-carrier Agreement. It also modernizes the liability regime for damage to baggage and cargo and the delay. In spite of the foregoing, the Montreal Convention fails to advance the unification of private international air law any further than the Warsaw Convention. / This thesis analyzes the provisions of liability regimes under the Warsaw System and the 1999 Montreal Convention. Chapter one studies the liability regime established under the original Warsaw Convention and the subsequent attempts by states, air carriers and other interested entities to update it. Chapter two analyzes the new regime of unlimited liability established by the 1999 Montreal Convention. Chapter three examines the liability of the air carrier for damage caused by terrorist activities. In an effort to demonstrate the innovative elements of the new Convention and to encourage states to ratify it, chapter four surveys the main benefits that have accrued to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its national air carrier upon ratification of the 1999 Montreal Convention.