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Newsletters
> October 2003
Court of Appeal Declines to Determine Whether Trial
Judge Wrong in Ruling Fedex Terms Offended S. 23 of the Warsaw Convention
In MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inv. v. Federal Express
Corp., [2003] B.C.C.A. 9 (B.C.C.A.) a shipper declared the value
for carriage on a FedEx airwaybill which referred to the Warsaw
Convention but as well incorporated contractual terms (including
its Service Guide) which included a maximum limitation amount of
$50,000. The shipment travelled from Vancouver to Memphis in the
U.S.A. FedEx argued that the limitation under the Warsaw Convention
of $11,427 applies. The shipper claimed for the declared value of
$214, 857.41. The trial judge ruled that the contractual terms in
the Guide offended the Warsaw Convention and was void. The Court
of Appeal held that on a reading of the Service Guide there was
no maximum limitation when the Warsaw Convention applied. The Court
of Appeal found it unnecessary to reach a definite conclusion as
to whether the trial judge was correct in ruling that the contractual
terms in the Guide offended section 23 of the Warsaw Convention
rendering such terms null and void. Section 23 provides that any
provision tending to relieve the air carrier of liability or fix
a lower limit than that which is laid down by the Convention is
null and void.
Rui Fernandes
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