Second Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation
Monday 29 March 1999
[Mr. Joe Benton in the Chair]
Draft Carriage by Air Acts (Implementation of Protocol No. 4 of Montreal, 1975) Order 1999
4.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Ms Glenda Jackson): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Carriage by Air Acts (Implementation of Protocol No. 4 of Montreal, 1975) Order 1999.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Carriage by Air Acts (Application of Provisions) (Fifth Amendment) Order 1999.
Ms Jackson: Thank you, Mr. Benton. It is a pleasure to serve, once again, under your chairmanship.
The two draft orders will implement in the United Kingdom the provisions of the Montreal Protocol No. 4, which amends the 1929 Warsaw convention as amended at the Hague in 1955. The Warsaw convention is the international agreement that establishes the legal basis for the liability of air carriers with respect to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo.
The fourth Montreal protocol allows for the use of more modern data-processing methods for the international carriage of cargo by air.
The fourth protocol takes account of the fact that the Guatemala City protocol 1971 made no amendment to the provisions of the convention relating to cargo. Given the modern techniques of data processing, the Warsaw and Hague provisions concerning the air waybill seemed to be anachronistic and, as a result, articles 5 to 16 of the Warsaw convention were partly redrafted. Furthermore, article 18 has been redrafted to specify the defences available to air carriers previously, there was only a general defence in article 20. Absolute liability limits, already provided for by the Guatemala City protocol in respect of passengers, were extended to cargo.
A sufficient number of ratifications to bring the Montreal Protocol No. 4 into force has now been received and, given that the UK signed the protocol and ratified it in 1984, it is necessary for UK legislation to be updated to reflect the fact that it has come into force. To bring the protocol into effect in the UK requires two separate Orders in Council. The first, the Carriage by Air Acts (Implementation of Protocol No. 4 of Montreal, 1975) Order 1999, will amend the Carriage by Air Act 1961 and will introduce a new schedule for the purposes of international travel. The second order, the Carriage by Air Acts (Application of Provisions) (Fifth Amendment) Order 1999, will amend the Carriage by Air Acts (Application of Provisions) Order 1967, for the purposes of domestic travel.
The Carriage by Air and Road Act 1979 (Commencement No. 3) Order 1998, which was made on 21 October 1998, brought into force section 3(1) of the Carriage by Air and Road Act 1979. Section 3(1) provided for the insertion of a new section, section 8A, into the Carriage by Air Act 1961. That provides the enabling power for making the first of the two draft orders. Section 8A enables the 1961 Act and other provisions to be amended by order in consequence of the UK agreeing to any revision of the Warsaw convention as amended at the Hague. The Montreal Protocol No. 4 is such a revision. The draft order provides for that convention as amended by that protocol to appear in the 1961 Act so that it has the force of law in the UK.
By virtue of the provisions of the 1961 Act, affirmative resolution is needed by both Houses of Parliament. Although the second order can be made only by using the powers given by the first order, it is proper for both orders to be taken together for the purposes of the parliamentary process. A voluntary memorandum has been submitted to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments showing that the making of the orders will be undertaken on a consecutive basis is by the Privy Council.
We have notified the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office of our intention to implement the Montreal Protocol No. 4 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland so that separate action can be taken in respect of other territories on whose behalf the UK originally ratified the protocol. We have consulted with airlines and other interested parties. Broadly, airlines welcome the implementation of the protocol.
The orders were drafted to implement into UK domestic law international obligations that we accepted in 1984. I commend the orders to the Committee.
4.35 pm
Mr. Peter Snape (West Bromwich, East): I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen), who is the Government Whip for this Committee, will not object to my taking the opportunity, for which I am grateful, to say a few words. I take the view that I am entitled to speak on the subject that has caused me to be dragged here this afternoon on a one-line Whip.
Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North): My hon. Friend came by train.
Mr. Snape: Actually, I drove which should perhaps rule me out completely.
I have a couple of questions for my hon. Friend the Minister. As far as I can remember, the 1929 convention was the first to set the maximum amount of compensation that could be paid to air passengers in the event of death or injury. That protocol has been amended on at least two previous occasions. Why do we continue to amend it, rather than rewrite it completely?
Committee members take a deep interest in such matters and they will know that the convention specifies that compensation should be paid in Poincarre gold francs. That may sound tremendously exciting, but those of us who are students of political history will know that President Poincarre was president of France at the time of the Warsaw convention. When I last checked, those gold francs were worth about 8p each, due to inflation. By how much did the two previous amendments to the provision increase the total amount of compensation payable under the Warsaw convention? Will the orders provide for a further increase, so that the payment to air passengers who are killed or injured will be worth while? What would be the maximum payment for compensation for luggage? I hope that those matters are covered by the order
Mr. Bernard Jenkin (North Essex): Yes, they are.
Mr. Snape: I am sure that they are and that is why I raised them. I am amazed that the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin), who is speaking for the Opposition, is not asking such questions.
Mr. Jenkin: I am not doing so because I know the answers.
Mr. Snape: When I used to lead for the Opposition, in the sad days before the country came to its senses, I would have wanted to ask just such questions. However, given the strength of the Labour majority in the House and in Committee, we must oppose as well as govern. Members on both sides of the Committee are surely interested in hearing the answers to those questions and I should be grateful if my hon. Friend the Minister would provide them.
4.37 pm
Ms Glenda Jackson: On my hon. Friend's first point about the Warsaw convention, he will know that a diplomatic conference is to be held in May, in Montreal, which will examine the existing convention and, hopefully, redraft it to meet the needs of modern societies.
My hon. Friend also asked about the gold franc estimate of compensation, which is now referred to as a special drawing right. In respect of UK currency, one special drawing right currently equals 85p. Of course, the orders before us deal with the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Unlimited liability for passengers has been proposed and will be considered at the Montreal conference. I trust that I have answered my hon. Friend's questions.
4.39 pm
Mr. Bernard Jenkin (North Essex): The Minister mentioned that the orders form part of the process of modernising the Montreal convention in the run-up to the diplomatic conference. Will she tell the Committee about the unhappiness that is being expressed about the format of that conference by, notably, senior American figures such as George N. Tompkins junior, special counsel, Rosenman and Colin LLP New York, who declared that the draft convention due to be considered at the diplomatic conference in May:
"does not provide the basis for international agreement whereby the Warsaw liability system can be modernised and perpetuated into the next century"
Is the Minister aware that there is deep unhappiness in the aviation industry in this country at the way in which her Department is approaching the matter? Is she also aware that there is a groundswell of opinion that may lead to a walk-out by commercial representation at the conference? What representations has she received and will she tell the Committee more about the background?
4.41 pm
Ms Jackson: As the hon. Gentleman is aware, the orders that I hope that the Committee will accept today will certainly be the amendments to the existing Warsaw convention. As I have already made clear in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Snape), there is a concern that the Warsaw convention as it stands requires modernisation, which is why there is to be a diplomatic conference in Montreal in May, under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO. I find it surprising that an individual from one country should express concern before a diplomatic conference even begins.
On whether aviation interests have made representations to my Department, expressing their concerns as to how the diplomatic conference is being approached to my knowledge we have received none. We are, of course, engaged in consultation with everyone in the aviation industry who has an interest in the diplomatic conference and will continue so to be.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Carriage by Air Acts (Implementation of Protocol No. 4 of Montreal, 1975) Order 1999
Draft Carriage by Air Acts (Application of Provisions) (Fifth Amendment) Order 1999
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the Carriage by Air Acts (Application of Provisions) (Fifth Amendment) Order 1999 [Ms Glenda Jackson.]
Committee rose at eighteen minutes to Five o'clock.
The following Members attended the Committee:
Benton, Mr. Joe (Chairman)
Allen, Mr.
Berry, Mr.
Brake, Mr.
Chapman, Mr. Ben
Corbyn, Mr.
Eagle, Maria
Griffiths, Jane
Jackson, Ms Glenda
Jenkin, Mr.
McWalter, Mr.
Snape, Mr.
Spelman, Mrs.
Tredinnick, Mr.
Whitehead, Dr.
The following also attended, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(2):
Bell, Mr. Stuart (Middlesbrough)
Taylor, Ms Dari (Stockton, South)
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