Liability for damage caused by misuse of aircraft

Abstract

U radu se razmatraju izvanugovorna i ugovorna odgovornost za štete prouzročene zloupotrebom zrakoplova. Daje se pregled pravila Rimske konvencije i Montrealskog protokola koji uređuju odgovornost za štetu koju prouzroči strani zrakoplov trećim osobama na zemlji te glavne naznake nastojanja modernizacije tih pravila. Uspoređuju se ta rješenja na međunarodnoj razini s onima sadržanim u nacionalnim zakonodavstvima, domaćem i poredbenopravnom. Posebna je pažnja posvećena načinu na koji su Sjedinjene Američke Države riješile pitanje naknade štete žrtvama terorističkog napada 11. rujna 2001. Ugovornu odgovornost za štete prouzročene zloupotrebom zrakoplova u međunarodnom zračnom prijevozu uređuje Montrealska konvencija iz 1999. godine, čije se odredbe uspoređuju s odredbama nacionalnog zakona. Zaključuje se da se kod zloupotreba zrakoplova poput one izvršene 11. rujna težište s problema same odgovornosti, tj. pronalaska onoga tko je, osim samih počinitelja, za tu štetu odgovoran, nužno prebacuje na pitanje kako žrtvama osigurati brzo i pravično obeštećenje, barem za štete zbog smrti i tjelesnih ozljeda.In this paper, the authors analyse non-contractual and contractual liabilities for damages caused by the misuse of aircraft. They also give an overview of the Rules of the Rome Convention and the Montreal Protocol laying down liability for the damages caused by a foreign aircraft to third persons on the ground, and the main indications of efforts to modernise these Rules. These solutions at the international level are compared with those contained in the national legislations, as well as in domestic and comparative law. Special emphasis is put on the way the United States of America has solved the issue of compensation for damages to the victims of the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001. The contractual liability for damages caused by the misuse of aircraft in international air traffic is regulated by the Montreal Convention of 1991, whose provisions are compared with those contained in the national law of Croatia. A conclusion is drawn that in the case of the misuse of aircraft, such as on 11 September, the focus is transferred from the problem of liability as such, i.e. from an effort to identify the persons, apart from the perpetrators themselves, who may also be responsible for the damage caused, to the problem of how to compensate the victims in a fast and just way, at least for the damages resulting in death or various bodily injuries