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ARTICLE · 26 OCTOBER 2006

"Breaking The Limit" Under The Warsaw Convention

Piper Alderman
Piper Alderman
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Piper Alderman

Piper Alderman

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In December 2005 the High Court of Hong Kong handed down its decision in Ericsson Limited, v KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

AustraliaTransport
Frazer Hunt
Frazer Hunt
Alex Keen
Alex Keen
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“Breaking the limit” is used in trade and transport parlance to refer to circumstances where the cargo interests are able to recover from carriers the full expense for consignments that have suffered loss or damage, and are therefore entitled to “break“ the limitation provisions of the applicable convention. Trade and Transport partner Frazer Hunt and lawyer Alex Keen discuss two recent decisions, one in Hong Kong and one in England, both with similar circumstances but very different outcomes.

In December 2005 the High Court of Hong Kong handed down its decision in Ericsson Limited, v KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

This case involved thefts of Ericsson mobile phones exported from Stockholm to Hong Kong. The carriage of the goods was performed by KLM Airlines, subject to the Amended Warsaw Convention. At the time of both thefts the cargo was in transit at Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (HACTL).

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