On Jurisdiction Of Carrier's Liability In The New Environment

From The Warsaw Convention of 1929(WC) to The Montreal Convention of 1999(MC99),the substantive rules of international air transportation were established and improved. Compared with WC, MC99 established 5 standards on jurisdiction. Defining jurisdiction using these 5 standards will affect a legal action and its outcome. The “New Environment” refers to the Internet and “cyberspace”, where jurisdiction over transactions is often uncertain, including transactions related to international air transportation. The time is right to modify and explain the rules of the Convention. This article is a study on 5 standards from MC99 as they apply to jurisdiction of the MH370 accident, including analysis of each jurisdiction; how to establish the legal location of a transaction if contact between the carrier and a traveler is made over the Internet and how to evaluate the fifth jurisdiction. Finally, compared with the Judicial Practice of the United States, the world leader in air transportation and related litigation, the article concludes that protecting the traveler's interest is a growing international trend.The first part of the article provides the reader with an introduction to the MH370 accident and the carrier's liability in international air passenger transportation. This section of the article also explains the relationship between the two conventions, starting with the innovation of the Warsaw Convention of 1929 and its subsequent amendments(known as the “Warsaw System”), and the clarity and modernization brought about by the MC99.The second and third parts of the article analyze the 5 standards jurisdiction of the MH370 accident case, along with references to other cases, and the USA's Judical practice. The article also provides some guidance regarding how to interpret the rules of MC99 in today's “new environment”, and evaluate the 5th jurisdiction.The final part of the article is the conclusion.