Montreal Convention of 1999

Revision of December 28, 2024: the air carrier's liability limit for cargo rises to 26 special drawing rights per kilogram, after 17 originally, 19 in 2009 and 22 on December 28, 2019. A 300 kilogram pallet of electronic components is therefore capped below 8,000 SDR whatever its real value, and the gap stays with the cargo owner or its cargo insurer. The Warsaw system, a 1929 text patched by five protocols and two private agreements, was no longer applied the same way by neighboring states. The Montreal Convention of 1999, in force since November 4, 2003, replaced it. Ratified by almost every country that matters in world traffic, it unifies transport documents, admits the electronic air waybill, and fixes time limits and competent courts. For passenger injury, it replaces the single ceiling with two tiers: strict liability up to a threshold, presumed fault above it, without cap. Compensation thus stops depending on the route and on the accidents of ratification. It also opens a fifth jurisdiction, the passenger's principal residence, and families now sue at home.