Preface

• Author: John D. Holding, John S. Hoff
• Pages: 15-16

Preface

On 4 November 2003, the Montreal Convention of 1999 came into

force. This historic date marked the cu lmination of many years of

effort in conferences and negotiations intended to reform and consoli-

date the law of international air carriage which had existed since 1933

under the old Warsaw system.

Thirty-one nations, including the United States, were parties to

the Montreal Convention when it came into force. This number rose

to f‌ift y-two by 6 June 2004, on which date the nations of the Euro-

pean Union implemented the treaty, and has since risen to eighty-sev-

en. This leaves, however, sixty-three nations governed by the Warsaw

Convention amended at The Hague, and another f‌ifteen nations still

governed by the unamended Warsaw treaty. The current status in the

United States, therefore, continues as two parallel systems of interna-

tional law; elements of t he Warsaw system consisting of t he original

Convention and two amending Protocols, and the Montreal Conven-

tion intended to consolidate, reform, and supercede the Warsaw sys-

tem. The law governing a particular contract of carriage may be either

one of those two systems, depending on the nations involved in the

carriage.

Following the time the Montreal Convention came into force there

was recognition of the current need for a practical guide to the law of

international air carriage, particularly as it applied in certain specif‌ic

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