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Localisation of UK enactments on Carriage by Air
The Carriage by Air Bill with the objective to ensure the continuation of the current civil aviation regime in Hong Kong will be gazetted tomorrow (Friday).
A Government spokesman said: "At present, carriage by air is governed by UK enactments which have been applied to Hong Kong by two UK Orders in Council made in 1967. These UK enactments give effect to three international agreements (namely, the Warsaw Convention, the Hague Protocol and the Guadalajara Convention) which govern international carriage by air and apply similar provisions to non-international carriage by air and carriage of mail and postal packages.
"Among other things, they set out the liability limits of air carriers in respect of death or injury of passengers or damage to baggage or cargo, specify the persons who are eligible to lodge a claim against the carriers, set the time limit for bringing proceedings against carriers and specify which States have jurisdiction over cases."
The spokesman noted: "The Bill, if enacted, will localise relevant UK carriage by air enactments to ensure the continued application of the three international agreements governing carriage by air and similar provisions relating to non- international carriage by air and the carriage of mail and postal packages to the HKSAR after June 1997. The localisation proposals have been agreed in the Sino- British Joint Liaison Group.
"The localization of the relevant UK enactments on carriage by air will preserve the current statutory framework on carriage by air in Hong Kong for post 1997." he added.
The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on December 4, 1996.
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