Carriage by Railway Act 1972
| Year | 1972 |
Carriage by Railway Act 1972
1972 CHAPTER 33
An Act to amend the law relating to carriage by rail in connection with certain international conventions, and for purposes connected therewith.
[29th June 1972]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Scheduled Convention to have the force of law.
(1) The provisions of the Convention known as the Additional Convention to the International Convention concerning the Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Rail (in this Act referred to as ‘the Additional Convention’), as set out in the Schedule to this Act, shall have the force of law in the United Kingdom so far as they relate to the liability of railway undertakings in respect of the death of or injury to passengers and damage to or loss of articles which they have with them, and shall have such effect notwithstanding anything in section 43(7) of the Transport Act 1962 (terms on which passengers may be carried by rail).
(2) If there is any inconsistency between the text in English in Part I of the Schedule to this Act and the text in French in Part II of that Schedule, the text in French shall prevail.
(3) In this Act the Convention referred to in paragraph 1(a ) of article 1 in the Schedule to this Act is referred to as ‘the Railway Passenger Convention’ and the Convention referred to in paragraph 1(b ) of that article is referred to as ‘the Railway Freight Convention’.
(4) In this Act ‘passengers’ has the meaning assigned to it by article 1 in the Schedule to this Act and any reference to things done in accordance with, or to rights conferred or provision made by, the Railway Passenger Convention or the Railway Freight Convention includes a reference to things done in accordance with, or to rights conferred or provision made by, a contract of carriage which incorporates the provisions of the Railway Passenger Convention or the Railway Freight Convention, as the case may require.
(5) This section shall come into force on such day as Her Majesty may by Order in Council certify to be the day on which the Additional Convention comes into force as regards the United Kingdom.
2 Designation of Contracting States.
(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council from time to time certify who are the Contracting States for the purposes of the Additional Convention.
(2) An Order in Council under this section may also certify whether Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom or any other Contracting State have made a declaration in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 1 in the Schedule to this Act.
(3) An Order in Council under this section shall, except so far as it has been superseded by a subsequent Order, be conclusive evidence of the matters so certified.
3 Fatal accidents.
(1) Without prejudice to article 18 in the Schedule to this Act, where, by virtue of paragraph 2 of article 3 in that Schedule any person has a right of action in respect of the death of a passenger, by reason of his being a person whom the passenger was under a legally enforceable duty to maintain,—
(a ) no action in respect of the passenger's death may be brought for the benefit of that person under the Fatal Accidents Act 1846 or by or on behalf of that person under any rule of Scots law; but
(b ) nothing in section 3 of that Act (not more than one action in respect of the same subject matter of complaint) shall prevent an action being brought under that Act for the benefit of any other person.
(2) Section 2 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1959 (exclusion of certain benefits in assessment of damages) shall apply in relation to an action brought by any person under the Additional Convention, including such an action brought in Scotland, as it applies in relation to an action under the Fatal Accidents Act 1846.
(3) Where separate proceedings are brought under the Additional Convention and under the Fatal Accidents Act 1846 in respect of the death of a passenger, a court, in awarding damages under that Act, shall take account of any damages awarded in the proceedings brought under the Additional Convention and shall have jurisdiction to make any part of its award conditional on the result of those proceedings.
(4) In the application of this section to Northern Ireland, the reference in subsection (2) above to section 2 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1959 shall be construed as a reference to section 2 of the Fatal Accidents Act (Northern Ireland) 1959 .
4 Power of court to take account of other proceedings relating to damage to or loss of articles.
(1) A court before which proceedings are brought to enforce a liability which is limited by article 7 in the Schedule to this Act may at any stage of the proceedings make any such order as appears to the court to be just and equitable in view of the provisions of the said article 7 and of any other proceedings which have been, or are likely to be, commenced in the United Kingdom or elsewhere to enforce the liability in whole or in part.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1) above, a court before which proceedings are brought to enforce a liability which is limited by the said article 7 shall, where the liability is, or may be, partly enforceable in other proceedings in the United Kingdom 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.
5 Registration of foreign judgments under the Additional Convention.
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, Part I of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933 (in this section referred to as ‘the Act of 1933’) shall apply, whether or not it would otherwise have so applied, to any judgment which—
(a ) has been entered, as mentioned in paragraph 1 of article 20 in the Schedule to this Act, by a court of a contracting State, other than the United Kingdom, and
(b ) has become enforceable under the law applied by that court.
(2) In the application of Part I of the Act of 1933 in relation to any such judgment as is referred to in subsection (1) above, section 4 of that Act shall have effect with the omission of subsections (2) and (3).
(3) The registration, in accordance with Part I of the Act of 1933, of any such judgment as is referred to in subsection (1) above shall constitute, in relation to that judgment, compliance with the required formalities for the purposes of paragraph 1 of article 20 in the Schedule to this Act.
6 Actions, judgments and decrees relating to carriage in accordance with Conventions.
(1) No action of any kind relating to a liability in respect of which provision is made by the Railway Passenger Convention or the Railway Freight Convention may be brought against a railway undertaking or its servants or agents except in accordance with that Convention.
(2) Where by virtue of any provision made by the Railway Passenger Convention or the Railway Freight Convention or by virtue of article 14 in the Schedule to this Act,—
(a ) an action of any description may be brought only against a particular railway undertaking, or
(b ) the bringing of an action against one railway undertaking extinguishes any right to proceed against another railway undertaking in respect of the same cause of action,
then, notwithstanding anything in section 6(1)(a ) of the Law Reform (Married Women and Tortfeasors) Act 1935 or any rule of Scots law enabling further proceedings to be instituted, proceedings may not be brought against any other person in respect of the same cause of action.
(3) So much of section 4 of the Railway Companies Act 1867 as prevents the rolling stock and other assets of a railway company, as defined in that Act, from being taken in execution shall apply also in relation to any railway undertaking—
(a ) carrying passengers or their luggage in accordance with the Railway Passenger Convention, or
(b ) carrying goods in accordance with the Railway Freight Convention,
if the judgment (within the meaning of that Act) on which the execution issues is given by a court in the United Kingdom in an action arising on a contract which incorporates the provisions of the Railway Passenger Convention or the Railway Freight Convention, as the case may require.
(4) So much of section 4 of the Railway Companies (Scotland) Act 1867 as prevents the rolling stock and other assets of a railway company, as defined in that Act, from being attached by diligence shall apply also in relation to any railway undertaking—
(a ) carrying passengers or their luggage in accordance with the Railway Passenger Convention, or
(b ) carrying goods in accordance with the Railway Freight Convention,
if the decree (within the meaning of that Act) on which the diligence proceeds is pronounced by a court in the United Kingdom in any such action as is referred to in subsection (3) above.
(5) A judgment given or decree pronounced by a court in the United Kingdom in any such action as is referred to in subsection (3) above may not be enforced by execution or diligence against—
(a ) any railway wagon owned by a person other than a railway undertaking, nor
(b ) any transport equipment contained in, or belonging to the owner of, such a wagon,
unless the owner has his principal place of business in the...
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