WARSAW CONVENTION

Warsaw Convention.Int’l law. A treaty (to which the United States is a party) negotiated in Warsaw, Poland, in 1929, consisting of uniform rules governing claims made for personal injuries arising out of international air travel. Cf. MONTREAL AGREEMENT. [Cases: Carriers  307; Treaties  8.C.J.S. Aeronautics and Aerospace §§ 265, 267; Carriers § 573; Treaties § 6.]

“Under the [Warsaw] Convention … air carriers are absolutely liable up to a preset monetary ceiling for any accident in which a passenger suffers bodily injury or death, as long as the accident took place on board the aircraft or in the process of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking. The Convention limits the liability of the carrier for each passenger to the sum of 125,000 francs, unless the carrier and passenger by special contract agree to a higher limit of liability, or unless it can be established that the carrier has been guilty of ‘willful misconduct.’ The Convention contains a two-year time limitation for bringing suit, and also absolves the carrier from liability upon a showing of due care on its part.” 8A Am. Jur. 2d Aviation § 149, at 160–61 (1997).
[Blacks Law 8th]