商法 航空運送編 制定案의 意義

Abstract

For the international air carriage, the Republic of Korea has acceded to the Montreal Convention of 1999 on September 20th, 2007 which became effective on December 29th 2007. However, Korea currently does not provide any private law on the liability of domestic air carrier, leaving all the matters relating to the domestic air carriage to the general conditions of carriage of private air lines. The Ministry of Justice of Korea has decided to enact a law that will regulate domestic air transportation, namely, "Domestic Carriage by Air Act", as a part of the Korean Commercial Code. The draft bill is divided into three chapters with forty articles: Chapter Ⅰ - General Provisions, Chapter Ⅱ - Carriage (Chapter Ⅱ includes General Provisions, Carriage of Passenger, Carriage of Goods, Documentation Relating to Carriage), Chapter Ⅲ - Damage Caused by Aircraft to Third Parties. It has adopted the basic liability system which major international conventions, such as Montreal Convention of 1999, Guadalajara Convention of 1961, Guatemala City Protocol of 1971, Rome Convention of 1952 and it's revising Protocol of 1978, in order to secure the unification and conformity in application and interpretation of the rules concerning carriage by air in both national and international. So it adopts the two-tier system of compensation for the death and personal injury of passenger: up to 100,000 SDR the carrier is strictly liable and can not exclude or limit his liability. Beyond the sum of 100,000 SDR the liability is based on fault with reversed burden of proof, if he proves that damage was not due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of the carrier or its servants or agents. It regulates documents relating to air carriage, delay, exoneration, advance payment etc. The bill is expected to be passed by the parliament early 2009 and is expected to be effective by end of 2009.