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Carriage by Air Act 1932

As Enacted Cited in Amendments 4 Related
Vincent
JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1932 c. 36
Year1932


Carriage by Air Act, 1932

(22 & 23 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 36.

An Act to give effect to a Convention for the unification of certain rules, relating to inter-national carriage by air, to make provision for applying the rules contained in the said Convention, subject to exceptions, adaptations and modifications, to carriage by air which is not international carriage within the meaning of the Convention, and for purposes connected with the purposes aforesaid.

[12th July 1932]

Whereas a Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air was on the twelfth day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, signed at Warsaw on behalf of His Majesty:

And whereas it is expedient that provision should be made for giving effect to the said Convention:

And whereas it is also expedient to make provision for applying the rules contained in the said Convention, subject to exceptions, adaptations and modifications, to carriage by air which is not international carriage within the meaning of the Convention:

Be it therefore enacted by the King'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:—

S-1 Provisions of Convention to have force of law.

1 Provisions of Convention to have force of law.

(1) As from such day as His Majesty may by Order in Council certify to be the day on which the Convention comes into force as regards the United Kingdom, the provisions thereof as set out in the First Schedule to this Act shall, so far as they relate to the rights and liabilities of carriers, passengers, consignors, consignees and other persons and subject to the provisions of this section, have the force of law in the United Kingdom in relation to any carriage by air to which the Convention applies, irrespective of the nationality of the aircraft performing that carriage.

(2) His Majesty may by Order in Council from time to time certify 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 provisions of the Additional Protocol to the Convention, and any such Order shall, except in so far as it has been superseded by a subsequent Order, be conclusive evidence of the matters so certified.

(3) Any reference in the said First Schedule to the territory of any High Contracting Party to the Convention shall be construed as a reference to the territories subject to his sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority, in respect of which he is a party.

(4) Any liability imposed by Article seventeen of the said First Schedule on a carrier in respect of the death of a passenger shall be in substitution for any liability of the carrier in respect of the death of that passenger either under any statute or at common law, and the provisions set out in the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the persons by and for whose benefit the liability so imposed is enforceable and with respect to the manner in which it may be enforced.

(5) Any sum in francs mentioned in Article twenty-two of the said First Schedule shall, for the purposes of any action against a carrier, be converted into sterling at the rate of exchange prevailing on the date on which the amount of any damages to be paid by the carrier is ascertained by the court.

S-2 Provisions as to actions against High Contracting Parties who undertake carriage by air.

2 Provisions as to actions against High Contracting Parties who undertake carriage by air.

2. Every High Contracting Party to the Convention who has not availed himself of the provisions of the additional Protocol thereto shall, for the purposes of any action brought in a court in the United Kingdom in accordance with the provisions of Article twenty-eight of the said First Schedule 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 authorise the issue of execution against the property of any High Contracting Party.

S-3 Application of this Act to colonies, protectorates, &c.

3 Application of this Act to colonies, protectorates, &c.

3. His Majesty may by Order in Council direct that the foregoing provisions of this Act shall extend, subject however to such exceptions, adaptations and modifications, if any, as may be specified in the Order, to all or any of the following territories, that is to say, the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, any colony and any territory which is under His Majesty's protection, or in respect of which a mandate from the League of Nations is being exercised by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.

S-4 Provision for applying Act to carriage by air which is not international.

4 Provision for applying Act to carriage by air which is not international.

4. His Majesty may by Order in Council apply the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act and any provision of section one of this Act to such carriage by air, not being international carriage by air as defined in the said First Schedule, as may be specified in the Order, subject however to such exceptions, adaptations and modifications, if any, as may be so specified.

Any such order may extend to the United Kingdom, and to all or any of the territories mentioned in the last preceding section.

S-5 Provisions as to Orders in Council.

5 Provisions as to Orders in Council.

(1) An Order in Council made under either of the two last preceding sections may contain such consequential provisions as His Majesty in Council thinks fit, and may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order in Council.

(2) Every such Order in Council shall be laid before Parliament so soon as may be after it is made.

S-6 Short title.

6 Short title.

6. This Act may be cited as theCarriage by Air Act, 1932.

S C H E D U L E S.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

CONVENTION

For the Unification of Certain Rules relating to International Carriage by Air.

ICHAPTER I.

Scope.—Definitions.

Article 1.

(1) This Convention applies to all international carriage of persons, luggage or goods 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 contract made by the parties, the place of departure and the place of destination, whether or not there be a break in the carriage or a transshipment, 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 a territory subject to the sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of another Power, even though that Power is not a party to this Convention. A carriage without such an agreed stopping place between territories subject to the sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of the same High Contracting Party is not deemed to be international for the purposes of this Convention.

(3) A 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 a territory subject to the sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority of the same High Contracting Party.

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 does not apply to carriage performed under the terms of any international postal Convention.

IICHAPTER II.

Documents of Carriage.

Section 1.—Passenger Ticket.

Article 3.

(1) For the carriage of passengers the carrier must deliver a passenger ticket which shall contain the following particulars:—

(a ) the place and date of issue;

(b ) the place of departure and of destination;

(c ) the agreed stopping places, provided that the carrier may reserve the right to alter the stopping places in case of necessity, and that if he exercises that right, the alteration shall not have the effect of depriving the carriage of its international character;

(d ) the name and address of the carrier or carriers;

(e ) a statement that the carriage is subject to the rules relating to liability established by this Convention.

(2) 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 the carrier accepts a passenger without a passenger ticket having been delivered he shall not be entitled to avail himself of those provisions of this Convention which exclude or limit his liability.

Section 2.—Luggage Ticket.

Article 4.

(1) For the carriage of luggage, other than small personal objects of which the passenger takes charge himself, the carrier must deliver a luggage ticket.

(2) The luggage ticket shall be made out in duplicate, one part for the passenger and the other part for the carrier.

(3) The luggage ticket shall contain the following particulars:—

(a ) the place and date of issue;

(b ) the place of departure and of destination;

(c ) the name and address of the...

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