The Montreal Convention (formally, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air) is a multilateral 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 attempts to re-establish uniformity and predictability of rules relating to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo. Whilst maintaining the core provisions which have served the international air transport community for several decades (i.e., the Warsaw regime), the treaty achieves modernization in a number of key areas. It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier liability system that eliminates the previous requirement of proving willful neglect by the air carrier to obtain more than US75,000indamages,whichshouldeliminateorreduceprotractedlitigation.UndertheMontrealConvention,aircarriersarestrictlyliableforprovendamagesupto128,821.00specialdrawingrights(SDR),amixofcurrencyvaluesestablishedbytheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)equaltoroughlyUS175,000. Where damages of more than 128,821.00 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 solely to the negligence of a third party. This defense is not available where damages of less than 128,821.00 SDR are sought. The Convention also amended the jurisdictional provisions of Warsaw and now allows the victim or their families to sue foreign carriers where they maintain their principal residence, and requires all air carriers to carry liability insurance.
The main goal of the Montreal Convention was to increase available damages in relation to death or injury of passengers from the limited and outdated limits under the Warsaw/Hague Convention.
The Convention does not recognize compensation for psychiatric injury or damage unless linked to physical injury.
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