Abstracts Law

The burden of proof of the air cargo claimant under international law

by Juan Carlos. Salazar

The air cargo industry is evolving rapidly, as is its international law regime. The recent entry into force of the Montreal Protocol No. 4 and adoption of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air signed at Montreal on 28 May 1999 constitutes a new legal framework for air cargo claims. Rather than offering definite answers, this thesis identifies some current and emerging issues in the law of air cargo claims, particularly those aspects that the claimant must prove. The work traces the development of the Warsaw System by writers and courts, and attempts to identify trends in the application and interpretation of the new legal framework. The evolution towards independence of the law of carriage of goods by air from other similar regimes, and the existing connections among them, are examined. When appropriate, common law and civil law solutions to some legal issues will be introduced. Finally, the thesis concludes that conflicting decisions in this field could be avoided by adopting uniform rules to solve conflicts of laws and to interpret international carriage conventions.