Axel Walz v Clickair SA.
Date: 2010-05-06
18. First of all, it should be recalled that, as regards the liability of European Union carriers for the carriage of passengers and their baggage by air in the territory of the Union, Regulation No 2027/97, applicable in this case, implements the relevant provisions of the Montreal Convention. It is apparent, in particular, from Article 3(1) of that regulation that the liability of European Union air carriers in respect of passengers and their baggage is to be governed by all provisions of the Montreal Convention relevant to such liability. The referring court therefore seeks an interpretation of the relevant provisions of that convention.
19. The Montreal Convention, signed by the Community on 9 December 1999 on the basis of Article 300(2) EC, was approved on its behalf by Decision 2001/539, and entered into force, so far as the Community is concerned, on 28 June 2004.
20. Since the provisions of that convention have been an integral part of the European Union legal order from the date on which the convention entered into force, the Court has jurisdiction to give a preliminary ruling concerning its interpretation (see, by analogy, Case 181/73 Haegeman  [1974] ECR 449, paragraphs 2, 4 and 5, and, in relation to the Montreal Convention, Case C-344/04 IATA and ELFAA  [2006] ECR I-403, paragraph 36, and Case C-549/07 Wallentin‑Hermann  [2008] ECR I‑11061, paragraph 28).
21. Since the Montreal Convention does not contain any definition of the term ‘damage’, it must be emphasised at the outset that, in the light of the aim of that convention, which is to unify the rules for international carriage by air, that term must be given a uniform and autonomous interpretation, notwithstanding the different meanings given to that concept in the domestic laws of the States Parties to that convention.
22. In those circumstances, the term ‘damage’, contained in an international agreement, must be interpreted in accordance with the rules of interpretation of general international law, which are binding on the European Union.
23. In that connection, Article 31 of the Convention on the Law of Treaties, signed in Vienna on 23 May 1969, which codifies rules of general international law, states that a treaty must be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to its terms in their context and in the light of its object and purpose (see, to that effect, in particular, Opinion 1/91 [1991] ECR I‑6079, paragraph 14; Case C‑312/91 Metalsa  [1993] ECR I‑3751, paragraph 12; Case C‑416/96 Eddline El-Yassini  [1999] ECR I-1209, paragraph 47, and Case C‑268/99 Jany and Others  [2001] ECR I-8615, paragraph 35).
29. It follows that the term ‘damage’, referred to in Chapter III of the Montreal Convention, must be construed as including both material and non‑material damage.
31. In that connection, it should be noted that, in accordance with the third recital in the preamble to the Montreal Convention, the States Parties to that convention, recognising ‘the importance of ensuring protection of the interests of consumers in international carriage by air and the need for equitable compensation based on the principle of restitution’, decided to lay down a system of strict liability for air carriers.
32. Thus, with regard, more specifically, to damage sustained in case of destruction or loss of, or damage to, checked baggage, under Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention a carrier is presumed liable for that damage, ‘upon condition only that the event which caused the destruction, loss or damage took place on board the aircraft or during any period within which the checked baggage was in the charge of the carrier’.
33. A system of strict liability of that kind implies, however, as is apparent, moreover, from the fifth recital in the preamble to the Montreal Convention, that an ‘equitable balance of interests’ be maintained, in particular as regards the interests of air carriers and of passengers.
34. In order to maintain such a balance, the contracting States agreed, in certain situations – in particular, in accordance with Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention, in the case of destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage – to limit the liability of air carriers. The resulting limitation of compensation must be applied ‘per passenger’.
35. It follows that, in the various situations in which a carrier is held liable pursuant to Chapter III of the Montreal Convention, the ‘equitable balance of interests’ referred to requires that there be clear limits on compensation relating to the total damage sustained by each passenger in each of those situations, regardless of the nature of the damage caused to that passenger.
36. Indeed, a limitation of the compensation so designed enables passengers to be compensated easily and swiftly, yet without imposing a very heavy burden of damages on air carriers, which would be difficult to determine and to calculate, and would be liable to undermine, and even paralyse, the economic activity of those carriers.
37. It follows that the various limitations of compensation referred to in Chapter III of the Montreal Convention, including that set in Article 22(2) of that convention, must be applied to the total damage caused, regardless of whether that damage is material or non-material.
38. In addition, Article 22(2) of the Montreal Convention provides that a passenger may make a special declaration of interest at the time when the checked baggage is handed over to the carrier. That possibility confirms that the limit of an air carrier’s liability for the damage resulting from the loss of baggage, laid down in that article, is, in the absence of any declaration, an absolute limit which includes both non‑material and material damage.