International Air Transport Law Applies

The international air transportation is a kind of high-hazard transportation. With the comprehensive development of transportation in China, there are more and more disputes in the area of air transportation. The difference of the resolvent between the international air transportation and the domestic air transportation is that the former involves in the application of law. This thesis of doctor degree is based on the study of conventions and domestic laws on international air transportation. From the dimension of private international law, the author discusses some key-problems of this area in a comparative way. It is significant to study the legal problems in international air transportation, which will perfect our air law system and boost the industry of air transportation.Seen from private international law, the conflicts of law will not happen unless there are foreign factors. But not all the air transportations having foreign factors are international air transportation. The first chapter, "Conspectus of International Air Transportation", begins in the conception, "international transportation by air" , made by the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Convention and introduces the theory of conflicts of law. The author considers the convention on uniform law for the international air transportation, "Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by Air" , as the best way to solve dissensions. But the judicatory explanation of international convention is ignored. So there must be a hermeneutic application in the area of international air transportation and the value judgment is needed. As to the influence of the agreements of WTO, the author does not think it is straightforward. So the author suggests that the law system relating to civil aviation should develop in an independent orientation. Another important problem is the interregional conflict of law in civil air transportation among Main Land, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The author concludes that our legislators should consult convention for reference.The second chapter is about jurisdiction in international air transportation, which is the first step to deal with the disputes of international air transportation. The author takes for that the traditional theories about jurisdiction should not be applied mechanically. The rule of autonomy of should be limited. In despite of our style of continental law, we can also introduce into such system as "forum non conveniens" to avoid parallel suit or forum shopping. In the last part of the chapter, the author deems that the popularization of internet would greatly influence the jurisdiction of international air transportation lawsuits.The third chapter is about the application of law in the contract of the international air transportation. Almost all the contracts of the international air transportation are formatted texts stipulated by international air transportation association (IATA). So it seems that the problem of the application of law is distinct. But things changed since the electronic air-tickets were forced to populate in the whole world. The author thinks that the compulsive use of electronic tickets in air transportation will fetch a great deal of new problems of the application of law. While in this area, we China is in the same scratch line with other developed countries and there are not many precedents for us.The forth chapter discusses the system of liability in international air transportation. Both the carrier and the third party could render the problem of liability of international air transportation. But the liabilities of the carrier and the third party are different, so the application of law should also not as the same. The author points out that our law system should be detailed more, the principle of liability should be plural ways, the system of remedy should be multiplied and the subjects of liability should be extended. At the same time, the rights of victims should also be expanded.The last chapter continues discussing the problems mentioned in the forth chapter. Once the liability is confirmed, and then comes the problem of compensation. The author expatiates on three more detailed problems: limitation of compensation, compensation for spiritual damage and delay in international air transportation. The author forecasts that the limitation of compensation will be cancelled in the future and the pure spiritual damage will also be accepted in international air transportation. In conclusion, almost every country would squint towards protecting the interests of its own party, but it is not a good tendency in the long run. So the author suggests that the court of China should consider more about other countries' laws in the course of adjudicating the case of the international air transportation.