INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
FOR THE UNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES RELATING
TO CARRIAGE OF PASSENGER LUGGAGE BY SEA
(Brussels, 27.V.1967)
The Contracting Parties,
Having recognized the desirability of determining by agreement
certain rules relating to carriage of passenger luggage by sea,
Have decided to conclude a convention for this purpose, and
thereto agreed as follows:
Article 1
In this Convention the following expressions have the meaning
hereby assigned to them:
a) "carrier" includes the shipowner, charterer or operator
who, having concluded a contract of carriage for a passenger,
undertake to carry his luggage;
b) "passenger" means only a person carried in a ship under
contract of carriage;
c) "ship" means only a sea-going ship;
d) (1) "luggage" means any article or vehicle carried by the
carrier in connection with a passenger's contract of carriage,
excluding:
1. articles or vehicles carried under a charter-party or
bill of lading;
2. articles or vehicles, if the carriage is governed by
the International Convention concerning the carriage of
passengers and luggage by rail;
3. live animals;
(2) "cabin luggage" means luggage which the passenger has with
him, or in his cabin, or which is in his custody. Except for the
application of Article 6 paragraph (1), "cabin luggage" includes
the luggage which the passenger has in or on his vehicle;
e) "carriage" covers the following periods:
(1) with regard to cabin luggage, the period while the luggage
is on board the ship or in the course of embarkation or
disembarkation. in addition, "carriage" covers the period while
such luggage is in custody of the carrier or his agent either in a
marine station or on a away or in or on any other port
installation, as well as the period during the transport by water
from land to ship or vice-versa, if the cost is included in the
fare, or if the vessel used for this auxiliary transport has been
put at the disposal of the passenger by the carrier;
(2) with regard to all other luggage, the period from the time
of delivery to the carrier or his servant and agent on shore or on
board until the time of re-delivery by the carrier or his agent;
f) "loss of or damage to luggage" includes pecuniary loss
resulting from the luggage not having been, re-delivered to the
passenger within a reasonable time after the arrival of the ship
on which the luggage has been or should have been carried, but
does not include delays resulting from strikes or lock-outs;
g) "international carriage" means any carriage in which
according to the contract of carriage the place of departure and
the place of destination are situated either in a single State, if
there is an intermediate port of call in another State, or in two
different States;
h) "contracting State" means a State whose ratification or
accession to this Convention has become effective and whose
denunciation thereof has not become effective.
Article 2
This Convention shall apply to any international carriage if:
a) the ship is registered in a contracting State or
b) the contract of carriage has been made in a contracting
State, or
c) the place of departure according to the contract of
carriage is in a contracting State.
Article 3
1. Where a carrier is the owner of the carrying ship, he shall
exercise due diligence and shall ensure that his servants and
agents, acting within the scope of their employment, exercise due
diligence to make the ship seaworthy and properly manned, equipped
and supplied at the beginning of the carriage and at any time
during the carriage and in all other respects to secure the safe
transportation of the luggage.
2. Where a carrier is not the owner of the carrying ship, he
shall ensure that the shipowner or operator, as the case may be,
and their servants and agents acting within the scope of their
employment, exercise due diligence in the respects set out in
paragraph (1) of this Article.
Article 4
1. The carrier shall be liable for loss of or damage to
luggage if the incident which causes the loss or damage occurs in
the course of carriage and is due to the fault or neglect of the
carrier or his servants or agents acting within the scope of their
employment.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 and of
paragraph (1) of this Article, the carrier shall not be liable for
loss or damage to any vehicle, arising or resulting from any act,
neglect, or default of the master, mariner, pilot or the servants
of the carrier in the navigation or in the management of the ship
during the carriage.
3. Unless agreed expressly and in writing, the carrier shall
not be liable for loss of or damage to monies, bonds and other
valuables such as gold and silverware, watches, jewellery,
ornaments or works of art.
4. The burden of proving:
a) the extent of the loss or damage,
b) that the incident which caused the loss of damage occured
in the course of carriage,
shall lie with the passenger.
5. a) If luggage has been lost or damaged, the fault or
neglect of the carrier, his servants or agents, shall, subject to
paragraph (5) (b), be presumed unless the contrary is proved.
b) If cabin luggage is lost or damaged, the burden of proving
such fault or neglect shall lie with the passenger except when the
loss or damage arises from, or in connection with, shipwreck,
collision, stranding, explosion or fire.
Article 5
If the carrier proves that the loss of or damage to the
luggage was caused or contributed to by the fault or neglect of
the passenger, the Court may exonerate the carrier wholly or
partly from his liability in accordance with the provisions of its
own law.
Article 6
1. The liability for the loss of or damage to cabin luggage
shall in no case exceed 10000 F per passenger.
2. The liability for loss of or damage to vehicles including
all luggage carried in or on the vehicle shall in no case exceed
30000 F per vehicle.
3. The liability for the loss of or damage to all other
articles than those mentioned under (1) or (2) shall in no case
exceed 16000 F per passenger.
4. Each franc mentioned in this Article shall be deemed to
refer to a unit consisting of 65,5 milligrams of gold of
millesimal fineness 900. The date of conversion of the sum awarded
into national currencies shall be governed by the law of the Court
seized of the case.
5. The carrier and the passenger may agree, expressly and in
writing, to a higher limit of liability.
6. The carrier and the passenger may agree, expressly and in
writing, that the liability of the carrier shall be subject to a
deductible not exceeding 1500 F in the case of damage to a vehicle
and not exceeding 100 F per passenger in the case of loss or
damage to other luggage, such sum to be deducted from the loss or
damage.
7. Interest on damages and legal costs awarded and taxed by a
Court in an action for damages shall not be included in the limits
of liability prescribed in this Article.
8. The limits of liability prescribed in this Article shall
apply to the aggregate of the claims put forward by or on behalf
of any one passenger, hit personal representative, heirs or
dependents on any distinct occasion.
Article 7
The carrier shall not be entitled to the benefit of the
limitation or liability provided for in Article 6, if it is proved
that the damage resulted from an act or omission of the carrier
done with the intent to cause damage or recklessly and with
knowledge that the damage would probably result.
Article 8
The provisions of this Convention shall not modify the rights
or duties of the carrier provided for in international conventions
relating to the limitation of liability of owners of sea-going
ships or in any national law relating to such limitation.
Article 9
Any claim for damages, however founded, may only be made
subject to the conditions and the limits set out in this
Convention.
Article 10
1. a) In case of apparent damage to luggage the claimant shall
give written notice to the carrier or his agent
(i) in the case of cabin luggage, before or at the time of
disembarkation;
(ii) in the case of all other luggage, before or at the
time of its delivery.
b) In the case of loss or of damage which is not apparent,
such notice must be given within fifteen days from the date of
disembarkation or delivery or from the time when such delivery
should have taken place.
c) If the claimant fails to comply with the requirements of
this Article, he shall be presumed, in the absence of proof to the
contrary, to have received the luggage undamaged.
d) The notice in writing need not be given if the state of the
luggage has at the time of its receipt been the subjects of joint
survey or inspection.
2. Actions for damages arising out of loss of or damage to
luggage shall be time barred after a period of two years from the
date of disembarkation, or, if the ship has become a total loss,
from the date when the disembarkation should have taken place.
3. The law of the Court seized of the case shall govern the
grounds of suspension and interruption of limitation periods in
this Article; but in no case shall an action under this
Conventions by through after the exploration of a period of three
years from the date of disembarkation, or, if the ship has become
a total loss, from the date when the disembarkation should have
taken place.
Article 11
1. If an action is brought against a servant or agent of the
carrier arising out of damage to which this Convention relates,
such servant or agent, if he proves that he acted within the scope
of his employment, shall be entitled to avail himself of the
defences and limits of liability which the carrier himself is
entitled to invoke under this Convention.
2. In that case, the aggregate of the amounts recoverable from
the carrier, his servants and agents shall not exceed the said
limits.
3. Nevertheless, a servant or agent of the carrier shall not
be entitled to avail himself of the provisions of paragraphs (1)
and (2) of this Article if it is proved that the damage resulted
from an act or omission of the servant or agent, done with intent
to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that damage would
probably result.
Article 12
Except as provided for in Article 6 (6), any contractual
provision concluded before the occurrence which caused the loss or
damage purporting to relieve the carrier of his liability towards
the passenger, or to prescribe a lower limit than that fixed in
this Convention, as well as any such provision purporting to shift
the burden of proof which rests on the carrier, shall be null and
void, but the nullity of that provision shall not render void the
contract which shall remain subject to the provisions of this
Convention.
Article 13
1. Prior to the occurrence of the incident which causes the
loss or damage, the parties to the contract of carriage may agree
that the claimant shall have the right to maintain an action for
damages, according to his preference, only before:
a) the Court of the permanent residence or principal place of
business of the defendant, or
b) the Court of the place of departure or that of destination
according to the contract of carriage, or
c) the Court of the State of the domicile or permanent place
of residence of the claimant if the defendant has a place of
business and is subject to jurisdiction in that State.
2. Any contractual provision which restricts the claimant's
choice of jurisdiction beyond that permitted under paragraph (1)
shall be null and void, but the nullity of such provision shall
not render void the contract which shall remain subject to the
provisions of this Convention.
3. After the occurrence of the incident which caused the loss
or damage, the parties may agree that the claim for damages shall
be submitted to any jurisdiction or to arbitration.
Article 14
This Convention shall be applied to commercial carriage within
the meaning of Article 1 undertaken by States or Public
Authorities.
Article 15
This Convention shall not affect the provisions of any
international convention or national law which governs liability
for nuclear damage.
Article 16
Any Contracting Party may at the time of signing, ratifying or
acceding to this Convention make the following reservations:
1. not to give effect to this Convention when the passenger
and the carrier are both subjects of the said Contracting Party;
2. that in giving effect to this Convention, it may with
respect to contracts of carriage issued within its territorial
boundaries, for a voyage of which the port of embarkation is in
such territorial boundaries, provide in its national laws, for the
form and size of any notice of the terms of this Convention to be
inserted in a contract of carriage.
Article 17
Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning
the interpretation or application of this Convention which cannot
be settled through negotiation, shall, at the request of one of
them, be submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the
date of the request for arbitration, the Parties are unable to
agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those
Parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of
Justice by request in conformity with the State of the Court.
Article 18
1. Each Contracting Party may at the time of signature or
ratification of this Convention or accession thereto, declare that
it does not consider itself bound by Article 17 of the Convention.
The other Contracting Parties shall not be bound by this Article
with respect to any Contracting Party having made such a
reservation.
2. Any Contracting Party having made a reservation in
accordance with paragraph (1) may at any time withdraw this
reservation by notification to the Belgian Government.
Article 19
This Convention shall be open for signature by the States
represented at the twelfth session of the diplomatic Conference on
Maritime Law.
Article 20
This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of
ratification shall be deposited with the Belgian Government.
Article 21
1. This Convention shall come into force three months after
the date of the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification.
2. This Convention shall come into force in respect of each
signatory State which ratifies it after the deposit of the fifth
instrument of ratification, three months after the date of the
deposit of the instrument of ratification.
Article 22
1. States, Members of the United Nations or Members of the
specialized agencies, not represented at the twelfth session of
the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, may accede to this
Convention.
2. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the
Belgian Government.
3. The Convention shall come into force in respect of the
acceding State three months after the date of deposit of the
instrument of accession of that State, but not before the date of
entry into force of the Convention as established by Article 21
paragraph (1).
Article 23
Each Contracting Party shall have the right to denounce this
Convention at any time after the coming into force thereof in
respect of such Contracting Party. Nevertheless, this denunciation
shall only take effect one year after the date on which
notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.
Article 24
1. Any Contracting Party may at the time of signature,
ratification or accession to this Convention or at any time
thereafter declare by written notification to the Belgian
Government which among the territories under its sovereignty or
for whose international relations it is responsible, are those to
which the present Convention applies.
The Convention shall three months after the date of the
receipt of such notification by the Belgian Government, extend to
the territories named therein.
2. Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under
paragraph (1) of this Article may at any time thereafter declare
by notification given to the Belgian Government that the
Convention shall cease to extend to such territories. This
denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which
notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.
Article 25
The Belgian Government shall notify the States represented at
the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law,
and the acceding States to this Convention of the following:
1. The signatures, ratifications and accessions received in
accordance with Articles 19, 20 and 22.
2. The date on which the present Convention will came into
force in accordance with Article 21.
3. The notifications with regard to Articles 18 and 24.
4. The denunciations received in accordance with Article 23.
Article 26
Any Contracting Party may three years after the coming into
force of this Convention, in respect of such Contracting Party, or
at any time thereafter request that a Conference be convened in
order to consider amendments of this Convention.
Any Contracting Party proposing to avail itself of this right
shall notify the Belgian Government which, provided that one third
of the Contracting Parties are in agreement, shall convene the
Conference within six months thereafter.
In witness whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries, duly
authorised, have signed this Convention.
Done at Brussels, this 27th day of May 1967, in the French and
English languages, both texts being equally authentic, in a single
copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Belgian
Government, which shall issue certified copies.
(Follow the signatures)
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