Preface

• Author: John D. Holding
• Pages: 11-13

Preface

The law of international air carriage is truly unique in source and

character. No other area of ordinary and popular human activity is

governed so exclusively by international law. Every year, hundreds

of thousands of Canadians engage in international air travel for

business and pleasure. I suspect that a relatively small number

fully appreciate that their rights as passengers and the obligations

of the airlines as carriers are exclusively dependant upon a system

of law codified in international treaties.

On 4 November 2003, the Montreal Convention of 1999

came into force. This historic date marked the culmination of

many years of effort in conferences and negotiations intended to

reform and consolidate the law of international air carriage which

had existed since 1933 under the old Warsaw system.

Thirty-one nations were parties to the Montreal Convention

when it came into force, including Canada and the United States.

This number rose to fifty-two by 6 June 2004, on which date the

nations of the European Union implemented the treaty, and has

since risen to sixty-two. This leaves, however, eighty-two nations

governed by the Warsaw Convention amended at The Hague, and

another sixteen nations still governed solely by the original War-

saw treaty. The current status, therefore, is two parallel systems of

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