浅析1999年《蒙特利尔公约》“事故”的判定

Analysis of the“Judgement”of the Accident in Montreal Convention in 1999

1999年《统一国际航空运输某些规则的公约》第17条第1款规定了在航空器上或者上、下航空器的过程中一旦发生事故造成旅客死亡或人身损害,承运人需要对旅客承担赔偿责任。然而公约并没有给"事故"一个明确的定义和解释,而是将其转交给各国法院予以判定,这就导致各国在司法实践中的不确定性。因而对这个术语的判定十分重要,这涉及到旅客是否能够依公约得到赔偿。目前司法实践中对事故的判定主要有"事故构成三要件说"和"事故构成两要件说",虽然后者较前者更容易将某一事件判定为"事故"使旅客得到赔偿,但是现阶段"事故"的判定应采用将航空运输固有风险进行扩大解释的"事故构成三要件说"。

According to Article 17,paragraph 1 of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for Inter?national Carriage by Air in 1999,the carriers take the responsibility to pay compensation to passengers for their death or personal injury in the event of an accident occurring on or off the aircraft.However,the definition of“accident”in the convention is implicit,when“accident”occurs,and the judgement of it depends on the court of justice in different countries,which leads to the uncertainty in the judicial practice in various countries.How?ever,the determination of this term is essential,because it determines whether passengers can be compensated according to the Convention.At present,in judicial practice,the methods to judge whether an event is an acci?dent or not include:“tripartite tests”and“double tests”.Compared to the“tripartite tests”,“double tests”are more likely to judge an incident as an“accident”so that passengers can get compensation.However,at this stage,the judgment of“accident”should adopt the theory of“tripartite tests”,which focus more on the inherent risk of air transportation.