LIABILITY OF THE AIR CARRRIER FOR PERSONAL INJURY: THE EXTENT OF COMPENSATION UNDER THE CEMAC CIVIL AVIATION CODE

Abstract

The aviation industry plays an important role in the transportation of goods and persons globally, as such there is the need for adequate regulation especially in the area of safety, the rights of air passengers and the liability of air carriers. Air passengers are faced with the challenge of bodily injury in the case of an accident. As such there is the need for adequate compensation mechanisms to be put in place to see into it that those who suffer from such aviation misfortunes are adequately compensated. This paper appraises the legal regime for the liability of the air carrier as to “bodily injury” and the extent of compensation of such bodily injury. It focuses on carrier’s liability towards passengers injured in the course of air transport as brought out by article 7 (2) (6) of the CEMAC Civil Aviation Code. Its objective would be to highlight some of the problems of interpretations in the convention on accidents that cause death or bodily injury while the passenger is on board the aircraft or in the cause of embarking and disembarking. The article tries to find out if the compensation regime applicable to “bodily injury” in air transport within the CEMAC Region permits effective and satisfactory compensation of victims. As such the work would examine air carrier’s liability as prescribed by article 7 (2) (6) of the CEMAC Civil Aviation code which is considered as stark and nebulous due to the fact that neither accident, bodily injury, nor embarking and disembarking has been properly defined by the convention. The paper would constantly make reference to the Warsaw Convention of 1929 and the Montreal Convention of 1999 since there are the two regimes used by the CEMAC Civil Aviation Code of 2012.