Full Compensation for Damage in International Carriage Law with Regard to the Carriage of Goods – Rule or Exception?

Abstract

The purpose of this article it to outline the legal nature of limitations of the amount of compensation stipulated in international carriage conventions. The paper tries to answer the question whether these limitations in an array of cases of carrier liability allow a conclusion that the principle of limited compensation applies here or whether perhaps the principle of full compensation remains valid and limitation of the amount of compensation is still an exception. Having analysed the legal character of limits to the amount of compensation, having demonstrated derogations from the application of provisions that limit the sum of the compensation and having taken into account the incomplete regulation under international carriage conventions and its lack of autonomy (falling under the civil law), the author points out that limiting the sum of compensation, despite being applied in the majority of cases of carrier liability, is not a rule but an exception from the full compensation principle. An answer to the fundamental question allows appropriate interpretation of provisions on establishing the amount of compensation due from the carrier. If one were to assume that these regulations maintain their exceptional nature, they will need to be interpreted in a restrictive manner, according to the exceptiones non sunt extendendae principle, and any doubts will have to be settled according to the full compensation principle.