«Международная конвенция для унификации некоторых правил, относящихся к перевозке багажа пассажиров морем» [англ.]

(Заключена в г. Брюсселе 27.05.1967)

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE UNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES RELATING TO CARRIAGE OF PASSENGER LUGGAGE BY SEA

(Brussels, 27.V.1967)

The Contracting Parties,

Having recognized the desirability of determining by agreement certain rules relating to carriage of passenger luggage by sea,

Have decided to conclude a convention for this purpose, and thereto agreed as follows:

Article 1

In this Convention the following expressions have the meaning hereby assigned to them:

a) «carrier» includes the shipowner, charterer or operator who, having concluded a contract of carriage for a passenger, undertake to carry his luggage;

b) «passenger» means only a person carried in a ship under contract of carriage;

c) «ship» means only a sea-going ship;

d) (1) «luggage» means any article or vehicle carried by the carrier in connection with a passenger's contract of carriage, excluding:

1. articles or vehicles carried under a charter-party or bill of lading;

2. articles or vehicles, if the carriage is governed by the International Convention concerning the carriage of passengers and luggage by rail;

3. live animals;

(2) «cabin luggage» means luggage which the passenger has with him, or in his cabin, or which is in his custody. Except for the application of Article 6 paragraph (1), «cabin luggage» includes the luggage which the passenger has in or on his vehicle;

e) «carriage» covers the following periods:

(1) with regard to cabin luggage, the period while the luggage is on board the ship or in the course of embarkation or disembarkation. in addition, «carriage» covers the period while such luggage is in custody of the carrier or his agent either in a marine station or on a away or in or on any other port installation, as well as the period during the transport by water from land to ship or vice-versa, if the cost is included in the fare, or if the vessel used for this auxiliary transport has been put at the disposal of the passenger by the carrier;

(2) with regard to all other luggage, the period from the time of delivery to the carrier or his servant and agent on shore or on board until the time of re-delivery by the carrier or his agent;

f) «loss of or damage to luggage» includes pecuniary loss resulting from the luggage not having been, re-delivered to the passenger within a reasonable time after the arrival of the ship on which the luggage has been or should have been carried, but does not include delays resulting from strikes or lock-outs;

g) «international carriage» means any carriage in which according to the contract of carriage the place of departure and the place of destination are situated either in a single State, if there is an intermediate port of call in another State, or in two different States;

h) «contracting State» means a State whose ratification or accession to this Convention has become effective and whose denunciation thereof has not become effective.

Article 2

This Convention shall apply to any international carriage if:

a) the ship is registered in a contracting State or

b) the contract of carriage has been made in a contracting State, or

c) the place of departure according to the contract of carriage is in a contracting State.

Article 3

1. Where a carrier is the owner of the carrying ship, he shall exercise due diligence and shall ensure that his servants and agents, acting within the scope of their employment, exercise due diligence to make the ship seaworthy and properly manned, equipped and supplied at the beginning of the carriage and at any time during the carriage and in all other respects to secure the safe transportation of the luggage.

2. Where a carrier is not the owner of the carrying ship, he shall ensure that the shipowner or operator, as the case may be, and their servants and agents acting within the scope of their employment, exercise due diligence in the respects set out in paragraph (1) of this Article.

Article 4

1. The carrier shall be liable for loss of or damage to luggage if the incident which causes the loss or damage occurs in the course of carriage and is due to the fault or neglect of the carrier or his servants or agents acting within the scope of their employment.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 and of paragraph (1) of this Article, the carrier shall not be liable for loss or damage to any vehicle, arising or resulting from any act, neglect, or default of the master, mariner, pilot or the servants of the carrier in the navigation or in the management of the ship during the carriage.

3. Unless agreed expressly and in writing, the carrier shall not be liable for loss of or damage to monies, bonds and other valuables such as gold and silverware, watches, jewellery, ornaments or works of art.

4. The burden of proving:

a) the extent of the loss or damage,

b) that the incident which caused the loss of damage occured in the course of carriage,

shall lie with the passenger.

5. a) If luggage has been lost or damaged, the fault or neglect of the carrier, his servants or agents, shall, subject to paragraph (5) (b), be presumed unless the contrary is proved.

b) If cabin luggage is lost or damaged, the burden of proving such fault or neglect shall lie with the passenger except when the loss or damage arises from, or in connection with, shipwreck, collision, stranding, explosion or fire.

Article 5

If the carrier proves that the loss of or damage to the luggage was caused or contributed to by the fault or neglect of the passenger, the Court may exonerate the carrier wholly or partly from his liability in accordance with the provisions of its own law.

Article 6

1. The liability for the loss of or damage to cabin luggage shall in no case exceed 10000 F per passenger.

2. The liability for loss of or damage to vehicles including all luggage carried in or on the vehicle shall in no case exceed 30000 F per vehicle.

3. The liability for the loss of or damage to all other articles than those mentioned under (1) or (2) shall in no case exceed 16000 F per passenger.

4. Each franc mentioned in this Article shall be deemed to refer to a unit consisting of 65,5 milligrams of gold of millesimal fineness 900. The date of conversion of the sum awarded into national currencies shall be governed by the law of the Court seized of the case.

5. The carrier and the passenger may agree, expressly and in writing, to a higher limit of liability.

6. The carrier and the passenger may agree, expressly and in writing, that the liability of the carrier shall be subject to a deductible not exceeding 1500 F in the case of damage to a vehicle and not exceeding 100 F per passenger in the case of loss or damage to other luggage, such sum to be deducted from the loss or damage.

7. Interest on damages and legal costs awarded and taxed by a Court in an action for damages shall not be included in the limits of liability prescribed in this Article.

8. The limits of liability prescribed in this Article shall apply to the aggregate of the claims put forward by or on behalf of any one passenger, hit personal representative, heirs or dependents on any distinct occasion.

Article 7

The carrier shall not be entitled to the benefit of the limitation or liability provided for in Article 6, if it is proved that the damage resulted from an act or omission of the carrier done with the intent to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that the damage would probably result.

Article 8

The provisions of this Convention shall not modify the rights or duties of the carrier provided for in international conventions relating to the limitation of liability of owners of sea-going ships or in any national law relating to such limitation.

Article 9

Any claim for damages, however founded, may only be made subject to the conditions and the limits set out in this Convention.

Article 10

1. a) In case of apparent damage to luggage the claimant shall give written notice to the carrier or his agent

(i) in the case of cabin luggage, before or at the time of disembarkation;

(ii) in the case of all other luggage, before or at the time of its delivery.

b) In the case of loss or of damage which is not apparent, such notice must be given within fifteen days from the date of disembarkation or delivery or from the time when such delivery should have taken place.

c) If the claimant fails to comply with the requirements of this Article, he shall be presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to have received the luggage undamaged.

d) The notice in writing need not be given if the state of the luggage has at the time of its receipt been the subjects of joint survey or inspection.

2. Actions for damages arising out of loss of or damage to luggage shall be time barred after a period of two years from the date of disembarkation, or, if the ship has become a total loss, from the date when the disembarkation should have taken place.

3. The law of the Court seized of the case shall govern the grounds of suspension and interruption of limitation periods in this Article; but in no case shall an action under this Conventions by through after the exploration of a period of three years from the date of disembarkation, or, if the ship has become a total loss, from the date when the disembarkation should have taken place.

Article 11

1. If an action is brought against a servant or agent of the carrier arising out of damage to which this Convention relates, such servant or agent, if he proves that he acted within the scope of his employment, shall be entitled to avail himself of the defences and limits of liability which the carrier himself is entitled to invoke under this Convention.

2. In that case, the aggregate of the amounts recoverable from the carrier, his servants and agents shall not exceed the said limits.

3. Nevertheless, a servant or agent of the carrier shall not be entitled to avail himself of the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Article if it is proved that the damage resulted from an act or omission of the servant or agent, done with intent to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result.

Article 12

Except as provided for in Article 6 (6), any contractual provision concluded before the occurrence which caused the loss or damage purporting to relieve the carrier of his liability towards the passenger, or to prescribe a lower limit than that fixed in this Convention, as well as any such provision purporting to shift the burden of proof which rests on the carrier, shall be null and void, but the nullity of that provision shall not render void the contract which shall remain subject to the provisions of this Convention.

Article 13

1. Prior to the occurrence of the incident which causes the loss or damage, the parties to the contract of carriage may agree that the claimant shall have the right to maintain an action for damages, according to his preference, only before:

a) the Court of the permanent residence or principal place of business of the defendant, or

b) the Court of the place of departure or that of destination according to the contract of carriage, or

c) the Court of the State of the domicile or permanent place of residence of the claimant if the defendant has a place of business and is subject to jurisdiction in that State.

2. Any contractual provision which restricts the claimant's choice of jurisdiction beyond that permitted under paragraph (1) shall be null and void, but the nullity of such provision shall not render void the contract which shall remain subject to the provisions of this Convention.

3. After the occurrence of the incident which caused the loss or damage, the parties may agree that the claim for damages shall be submitted to any jurisdiction or to arbitration.

Article 14

This Convention shall be applied to commercial carriage within the meaning of Article 1 undertaken by States or Public Authorities.

Article 15

This Convention shall not affect the provisions of any international convention or national law which governs liability for nuclear damage.

Article 16

Any Contracting Party may at the time of signing, ratifying or acceding to this Convention make the following reservations:

1. not to give effect to this Convention when the passenger and the carrier are both subjects of the said Contracting Party;

2. that in giving effect to this Convention, it may with respect to contracts of carriage issued within its territorial boundaries, for a voyage of which the port of embarkation is in such territorial boundaries, provide in its national laws, for the form and size of any notice of the terms of this Convention to be inserted in a contract of carriage.

Article 17

Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention which cannot be settled through negotiation, shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for arbitration, the Parties are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those Parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the State of the Court.

Article 18

1. Each Contracting Party may at the time of signature or ratification of this Convention or accession thereto, declare that it does not consider itself bound by Article 17 of the Convention. The other Contracting Parties shall not be bound by this Article with respect to any Contracting Party having made such a reservation.

2. Any Contracting Party having made a reservation in accordance with paragraph (1) may at any time withdraw this reservation by notification to the Belgian Government.

Article 19

This Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented at the twelfth session of the diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law.

Article 20

This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Belgian Government.

Article 21

1. This Convention shall come into force three months after the date of the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification.

2. This Convention shall come into force in respect of each signatory State which ratifies it after the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification, three months after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

Article 22

1. States, Members of the United Nations or Members of the specialized agencies, not represented at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, may accede to this Convention.

2. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Belgian Government.

3. The Convention shall come into force in respect of the acceding State three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of accession of that State, but not before the date of entry into force of the Convention as established by Article 21 paragraph (1).

Article 23

Each Contracting Party shall have the right to denounce this Convention at any time after the coming into force thereof in respect of such Contracting Party. Nevertheless, this denunciation shall only take effect one year after the date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.

Article 24

1. Any Contracting Party may at the time of signature, ratification or accession to this Convention or at any time thereafter declare by written notification to the Belgian Government which among the territories under its sovereignty or for whose international relations it is responsible, are those to which the present Convention applies.

The Convention shall three months after the date of the receipt of such notification by the Belgian Government, extend to the territories named therein.

2. Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph (1) of this Article may at any time thereafter declare by notification given to the Belgian Government that the Convention shall cease to extend to such territories. This denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.

Article 25

The Belgian Government shall notify the States represented at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, and the acceding States to this Convention of the following:

1. The signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with Articles 19, 20 and 22.

2. The date on which the present Convention will came into force in accordance with Article 21.

3. The notifications with regard to Articles 18 and 24.

4. The denunciations received in accordance with Article 23.

Article 26

Any Contracting Party may three years after the coming into force of this Convention, in respect of such Contracting Party, or at any time thereafter request that a Conference be convened in order to consider amendments of this Convention.

Any Contracting Party proposing to avail itself of this right shall notify the Belgian Government which, provided that one third of the Contracting Parties are in agreement, shall convene the Conference within six months thereafter.

In witness whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries, duly authorised, have signed this Convention.

Done at Brussels, this 27th day of May 1967, in the French and English languages, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Belgian Government, which shall issue certified copies.

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