The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Dismisses Appeal for Damages Under the Montreal Convention’s Temporal Jurisdiction (March 5, 2014) [1]
On March 5, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) dismissed the appeal in Stott v. Thomas Cook Tour Operators Ltd. The Appellant, who is paralyzed from the shoulders down, claimed damages for injury to feelings after being unable to sit with his wife, on whom he relies for his care, on a flight with the Respondent airline. The Respondent argued, under Article 17 and Article 29 of the Montreal Convention [3], that damages can only be awarded for harm to passengers in cases of death or bodily harm. According to the press release [4], the Court held [5] that “the Convention deals comprehensively with the carrier’s liability for physical incidents involving passengers between embarkation and disembarkation.” Further, the Court held [5] that “Mr. Stott’s claim is for damages and distress suffered in the course of embarkation and flight, and these fall squarely within the temporal scope of the Convention.”