(Full version in PDF formate)
Convention for the Unification of
Certain Rules Relating to International
Carriage by Air, Signed at Warsaw on
12 October 1929
Warsaw Convention 1929
copy @ lexmercatoria.org
Generated by SiSU www.jus.uio.no/sisu
www.sisudoc.org
Generated by SiSU [ SiSU 0.69.0-beta of 2008w34/4 ] www.jus.uio.no/sisu
Copyright © 1997, current 2008 Ralph Amissah, All Rights Reserved.
SiSU is software for document structuring, publishing and search (with object citation numbering),
www.sisudoc.org
SiSU is released under GPL 3 or later, <http://www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
Document information:
sourcefile air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929.sst
Generated by SiSU www.jus.uio.no/sisu
version information: SiSU 0.69.0-beta of 2008w34/4
For alternative output formats of this document check:
<http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/sisu_manifest.html>
SiSU lexmercatoria.org ii
Contents
Contents
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage
by Air, Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
(Warsaw Convention) 1
Chapter I – Scope – Definitions 1
Article 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Article 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter II – Documents of Carriage 1
Section I – Passenger Ticket 1
Article 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Section II – Luggage Ticket 2
Article 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Section III – Air Consignment Note 3
Article 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Article 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Article 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Article 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Article 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Article 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Article 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Article 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Article 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Article 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Article 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Article 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter III – Liability of the Carrier 6
Article 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Article 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Article 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Article 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Article 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Article 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Article 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Article 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Article 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Article 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Article 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Article 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SiSU lexmercatoria.org iii
Contents
Article 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Article 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter IV – Provisions Relating to Combined Carriage 10
Article 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter V – General and Final Provisions 10
Article 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Article 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Article 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Article 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Article 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Article 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Article 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Article 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Article 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Article 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Additional Protocol 12
Additional Protocol (With reference to Article 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Document Information (metadata) 13
Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Information on this document copy and an unofficial List of Some web related
information and sources 14
Information on this document copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Links that may be of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
SiSU lexmercatoria.org iv
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to 1
International Carriage by Air, Signed at Warsaw on 12
October 1929
(Warsaw Convention)
Chapter I – Scope – Definitions 2
Article 1 3
1. This Convention applies to all international carriage of persons, luggage or goods 4
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 5
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 transhipment,
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 6
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 7
1. This Convention applies to carriage performed by the State or by legally constituted 8
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 inter- 9
national postal Convention.
Chapter II – Documents of Carriage 10
Section I – Passenger Ticket 11
Article 3 12
1. For the carriage of passengers the carrier must deliver a passenger ticket which shall 13
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 1
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
contain the following particulars:-
(a) the place and date of issue; 14
(b) the place of departure and of destination; 15
(c) the agreed stopping places, provided that the carrier may reserve the right to alter 16
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; 17
(e) a statement that the carriage is subject to the rules relating to liability established by 18
this Convention.
2. The absence, irregularity or loss of the passenger ticket does not affect the existence or 19
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 II – Luggage Ticket 20
Article 4 21
1. For the carriage of luggage, other than small personal objects of which the passenger 22
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 23
other part for the carrier.
3. The luggage ticket shall contain the following particulars:- 24
(a) the place and date of issue; 25
(b) the place of departure and of destination; 26
(c) the name and address of the carrier or carriers; 27
(d) the number of the passenger ticket; 28
(e) a statement that delivery of the luggage will be made to the bearer of the luggage 29
ticket;
(f) the number and weight of the packages; 30
(g) the amount of the value declared in accordance with Article 22(2); 31
(h) a statement that the carriage is subject to the rules relating to liability established 32
by this Convention.
4. The absence, irregularity or loss of the luggage ticket does not affect the existence or 33
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 luggage without a luggage ticket
having been delivered, or if the luggage ticket does not contain the particulars set out at
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 2
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
(d), (f) and (h) above, the carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself of those provisions
of the Convention which exclude or limit his liability.
Section III – Air Consignment Note 34
Article 5 35
1. Every carrier of goods has the right to require the consignor to make out and hand 36
over to him a document called an “air consignment note”; 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 37
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 38
1. The air consignment note shall be made out by the consignor in three original parts 39
and be handed over with the goods.
2. The first part shall be marked “for the carrier,” and shall be signed by the consignor. 40
The second part shall be marked “for the consignee”; it shall be signed by the consignor
and by the carrier and shall accompany the goods. The third part shall be signed by the
carrier and handed by him to the consignor after the goods have been accepted.
3. The carrier shall sign on acceptance of the goods. 41
4. The signature of the carrier may be stamped; that of the consignor may be printed or 42
stamped.
5. If, at the request of the consignor, the carrier makes out the air consignment note, 43
he shall be deemed, subject to proof to the contrary, to have done so on behalf of the
consignor.
Article 7 44
The carrier of goods has the right to require the consignor to make out separate consign- 45
ment notes when there is more than one package.
Article 8 46
The air consignment note shall contain the following particulars:- 47
(a) the place and date of its execution; 48
(b) the place of departure and of destination; 49
(c) the agreed stopping places, provided that the carrier may reserve the right to alter 50
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 3
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
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 consignor; 51
(e) the name and address of the first carrier; 52
(f) the name and address of the consignee, if the case so requires; 53
(g) the nature of the goods; 54
(h) the number of the packages, the method of packing and the particular marks or 55
numbers upon them;
(i) the weight, the quantity and the volume or dimensions of the goods; 56
(j) the apparent condition of the goods and of the packing; 57
(k) the freight, if it has been agreed upon, the date and place of payment, and the person 58
who is to pay it;
(l) if the goods are sent for payment on delivery, the price of the goods, and, if the case 59
so requires, the amount of the expenses incurred;
(m) the amount of the value declared in accordance with Article 22 (2); 60
(n) the number of parts of the air consignment note; 61
(o) the documents handed to the carrier to accompany the air consignment note; 62
(p) the time fixed for the completion of the carriage and a brief note of the route to be 63
followed, if these matters have been agreed upon;
(q) a statement that the carriage is subject to the rules relating to liability established by 64
this Convention.
Article 9 65
If the carrier accepts goods without an air consignment note having been made out, or if 66
the air consignment note does not contain all the particulars set out in Article 8(a) to (i)
inclusive and (q), the carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself of the provisions of this
Convention which exclude or limit his liability.
Article 10 67
1. The consignor is responsible for the correctness of the particulars and statements 68
relating to the goods which he inserts in the air consignment note.
2. The consignor will be liable for all damage suffered by the carrier or any other person 69
by reason of the irregularity, incorrectness or incompleteness of the said particulars and
statements.
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 4
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
Article 11 70
1. The air consignment note is prima facie evidence of the conclusion of the contract, of 71
the receipt of the goods and of the conditions of carriage.
2. The statements in the air consignment note relating to the weight, dimensions and 72
packing of the goods, 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
goods do not constitute evidence against the carrier except so far as they both have been,
and are stated in the air consignment note to have been, checked by him in the presence
of the consignor, or relate to the apparent condition of the goods.
Article 12 73
1. Subject to his liability to carry out all his obligations under the contract of carriage, the 74
consignor has the right to dispose of the goods by withdrawing them at the aerodrome of
departure or destination, or by stopping them in the course of the journey on any landing,
or by calling for them 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 consignment note, or by
requiring them 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 75
him forthwith.
3. If the carrier obeys the orders of the consignor for the disposition of the goods without 76
requiring the production of the part of the air consignment note 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 consignment note.
4. The right conferred on the consignor ceases at the moment when that of the consignee 77
begins in accordance with Article 13. Nevertheless, if the consignee declines to accept
the consignment note or the goods, or if he cannot be communicated with, the consignor
resumes his right of disposition.
Article 13 78
1. Except in the circumstances set out in the preceding Article, the consignee is entitled, 79
on arrival of the goods at the place of destination, to require the carrier to hand over to
him the air consignment note and to deliver the goods to him, on payment of the charges
due and on complying with the conditions of carriage set out in the air consignment
note.
2. Unless it is otherwise agreed, it is the duty of the carrier to give notice to the consignee 80
as soon as the goods arrive.
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 5
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
3. If the carrier admits the loss of the goods, or if the goods have not arrived at the 81
expiration of seven days after the date on which they 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 82
The consignor and the consignee can respectively enforce all the rights given them by 83
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 84
1. Articles 12, 13 and 14 do not affect either the relations of the consignor or the consignee 85
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 86
air consignment note.
Article 16 87
1. The consignor must furnish such information and attach to the air consignment note 88
such documents as are necessary to meet the formalities of customs, octroi or police before
the goods 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 agents.
2. The carrier is under no obligation to enquire into the correctness or sufficiency of such 89
information or documents.
Chapter III – Liability of the Carrier 90
Article 17 91
The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of the death or wounding of a 92
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 93
1. The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of the destruction or loss of, 94
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 6
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
or of damage to, any registered luggage or any goods, 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 95
during which the luggage or goods are 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 96
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
transshipment, 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 97
The carrier is liable for damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air of passengers, 98
luggage or goods.
Article 20 99
1. The carrier is not liable if he proves that he and his agents have taken all necessary 100
measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for him or them to take such
measures.
2. In the carriage of goods and luggage the carrier is not liable if he proves that the 101
damage was occasioned by negligent pilotage or negligence in the handling of the aircraft
or in navigation and that, in all other respects, he and his agents have taken all necessary
measures to avoid the damage.
Article 21 102
If the carrier proves that the damage was caused by or contributed to by the negligence 103
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 22 104
1. In the carriage of passengers the liability of the carrier for each passenger is limited 105
to the sum of 125,000 francs. Where, in accordance with the law of the Court seised
of the case, damages may be awarded in the form of periodical payments, the equivalent
capital value of the said payments shall not exceed 125,000 francs. Nevertheless, by special
contract, the carrier and the passenger may agree to a higher limit of liability.
2. In the carriage of registered luggage and of goods, the liability of the carrier is limited 106
to a sum of 250 francs per kilogram, unless the consignor has made, at the time when
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 7
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
the package was handed over to the carrier, a special declaration of the value at delivery
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 actual value to the consignor at delivery.
3. As regards objects of which the passenger takes charge himself the liability of the 107
carrier is limited to 5,000 francs per passenger.
4. The sums mentioned above shall be deemed to refer to the French franc consisting of 108
65 « milligrams gold of millesimal fineness 900. These sums may be converted into any
national currency in round figures.
Article 23 109
Any provision tending to relieve the carrier of liability or to fix a lower limit than that 110
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.
Article 24 111
1. In the cases covered by Articles 18 and 19 any action for damages, however founded, 112
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, 113
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 25 114
1. The carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself of the provisions of this Convention 115
which exclude or limit his liability, if the damage is caused by his wilful misconduct or by
such default on his part as, in accordance with the law of the Court seised of the case, is
considered to be equivalent to wilful misconduct.
2. Similarly the carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself of the said provisions, if the 116
damage is caused as aforesaid by any agent of the carrier acting within the scope of his
employment.
Article 26 117
1. Receipt by the person entitled to delivery of luggage or goods without complaint is 118
prima facie evidence that the same have 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 119
forthwith after the discovery of the damage, and, at the latest, within three days from the
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 8
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
date of receipt in the case of luggage and seven days from the date of receipt in the case
of goods. In the case of delay the complaint must be made at the latest within fourteen
days from the date on which the luggage or goods have been placed at his disposal.
3. Every complaint must be made in writing upon the document of carriage or by separate 120
notice in writing despatched within the times aforesaid.
4. Failing complaint within the times aforesaid, no action shall lie against the carrier, 121
save in the case of fraud on his part.
Article 27 122
In the case of the death of the person liable, an action for damages lies in accordance with 123
the terms of this Convention against those legally representing his estate.
Article 28 124
1. An action for damages must be brought, at the option of the plaintiff, in the territory of 125
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 seised of the 126
case.
Article 29 127
1. The right to damages shall be extinguished if an action is not brought within two 128
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 129
the Court seised of the case.
Article 30 130
1. In the case of carriage to be performed by various successive carriers and falling within 131
the definition set out in the third paragraph of Article 1, each carrier who accepts passengers,
luggage or goods 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 132
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.
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 9
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
3. As regards luggage or goods, the passenger or consignor will have a right of action 133
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 134
Article 31 135
1. In the case of combined carriage performed partly by air and partly by any other mode 136
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 137
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 138
Article 32 139
Any clause contained in the contract and all special agreements entered into before the 140
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 goods 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 33 141
Nothing contained in this Convention shall prevent the carrier either from refusing to 142
enter into any contract of carriage, or from making regulations which do not conflict with
the provisions of this Convention.
Article 34 143
This Convention does not apply to international carriage by air performed by way of 144
experimental trial by air navigation undertakings with the view to the establishment of
a regular line of air navigation, nor does it apply to carriage performed in extraordinary
circumstances outside the normal scope of an air carrier’s business.
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 10
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
Article 35 145
The expression “days” when used in this Convention means current days not working 146
days.
Article 36 147
The Convention is drawn up in French in a single copy which shall remain deposited in 148
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 37 149
1. This Convention shall be ratified. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited in 150
the archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Poland, which will notify the deposit
to the Government of each of the High Contracting Parties.
2. As soon as this Convention shall have been ratified by five of the High Contracting Par- 151
ties it shall come into force as between them on the ninetieth day after the deposit of the
fifth ratification. Thereafter it shall come into force between the High Contracting Parties
who shall have ratified and the High Contracting Party who deposits his instrument of
ratification on the ninetieth day after the deposit.
3. It shall be the duty of the Government of the Republic of Poland to notify to the 152
Government of each of the High Contracting Parties the date on which this Convention
comes into force as well as the date of the deposit of each ratification.
Article 38 153
1. This Convention shall, after it has come into force, remain open for accession by any 154
State.
2. The accession shall be effected by a notification addressed to the Government of the 155
Republic of Poland, which will inform the Government of each of the High Contracting
Parties thereof.
3. The accession shall take effect as from the ninetieth day after the notification made to 156
the Government of the Republic of Poland.
Article 39 157
1. Any one of the High Contracting Parties may denounce this Convention by a notifica- 158
tion addressed to the Government of the Republic of Poland, which will at once inform
the Government of each of the High Contracting Parties.
2. Denunciation shall take effect six months after the notification of denunciation, and 159
shall operate only as regards the Party who shall have proceeded to denunciation.
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 11
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
Article 40 160
1. Any High Contracting Party may, at the time of signature or of deposit of ratification or 161
of accession declare that the acceptance which he gives to this Convention does not apply
to all or any of his colonies, protectorates, territories under mandate, or any other territory
subject to his sovereignty or his authority, or any territory under his suzerainty.
2. Accordingly any High Contracting Party may subsequently accede separately in the 162
name of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, territories under mandate or any other
territory subject to his sovereignty or to his authority or any territory under his suzerainty
which has been thus excluded by his original declaration.
3. Any High Contracting Party may denounce this Convention, in accordance with its 163
provisions, separately or for all or any of his colonies, protectorates, territories under
mandate or any other territory subject to his sovereignty or to his authority, or any other
territory under his suzerainty.
Article 41 164
Any High Contracting Party shall be entitled not earlier than two years after the coming 165
into force of this Convention to call for the assembling of a new international Conference
in order to consider any improvements which may be made in this Convention. To this
end he will communicate with the Government of the French Republic which will take
the necessary measures to make preparations for such Conference.
This Convention done at Warsaw on the 12th October, 1929, shall remain open for sig- 166
nature until the 31st January, 1930.
Additional Protocol
Additional Protocol (With reference to Article 2) 167
The High Contracting Parties reserve to themselves the right to declare at the time of 168
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.”
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 12
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
Document Information (metadata)
Metadata
Document Manifest @
<http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/sisu_manifest.html>
Dublin Core (DC)
DC tags included with this document are provided here.
DC Title: Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International
Carriage by Air, Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929 – Warsaw Convention 1929
DC Date: 1999-10-12
DC Type: international convention multilateral
description: Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by
Air, Warsaw, 1929
Version Information
Sourcefile: air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929.lm3
Filetype: SiSU text 0.38
Sourcefile Digest, MD5(air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929.sst)= 66260815dcd6b2f8f86dd11e7a3705ae
Skin_Digest: MD5(skin_lm.rb)= c89d714faa1c8cdbf677592f30bb699c
Generated
Document (metaverse) last generated: Wed Sep 03 18:00:57 -0400 2008
Generated by: SiSU 0.69.0-beta of 2008w34/4 (2008-08-28)
Ruby version: ruby 1.8.7 (2008-06-20 patchlevel 22) [i486-linux]
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 13
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air,
Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929
Information on this document copy and an unofficial List of
Some web related information and sources
“Support Open Standards and Software Libre for the Information Technology Infrastructure”
RA
Information on this document copy lexmercatoria.org
Generated by SiSU found at www.jus.uio.no/sisu [ SiSU 0.69.0-beta 2008w34/4 ] www.sisudoc.org. SiSU is software
for document structuring, publishing and search (using SiSU: object citation numbering, markup,
meta-markup, and system) Copyright © 1997, current 2008 Ralph Amissah, All Rights Reserved.
SiSU is released under GPL 3 or later (www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl.html).
W3 since October 3 1993 SiSU 1997, current 2008.
Lex Mercatoria presentations at lexmercatoria.org
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, Signed
at Warsaw on 12 October 1929 pdf versions can be found at:
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/portrait.pdf
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/landscape.pdf
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by
Air, Signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929 html versions may be found at:
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/toc.html or
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/doc.html
SiSU Manifest of document output and metadata may be found at:
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//air.carriage.warsaw.convention.1929/sisu_manifest.html
Lex Mercatoria found at: lexmercatoria.org
Links that may be of interest at Lex Mercatoria and elsewhere:
Air Carriage
(lexmercatoria.org)
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//transport.and.carriage.of.goods/air.html;
Transport
(lexmercatoria.org)
http://www.jus.uio.no/lm//transport.and.carriage.of.goods/toc.html
Lex Mercatoria home:
lexmercatoria.org
SiSU lexmercatoria.org 14