Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 502

Summary: - The consignor's submitting, upon delivery of the goods to the air carrier, a special declaration of the interest he attaches to their delivery at destination, and paying any additional charge the carrier may require in return. Its effect. The carrier must compensate the damage within the amount stated by the consignor. Articles 222 and 214, Commercial Code. The challenged judgment's departing from this and awarding compensation for material and moral damage for loss of the shipment below the value specified by the consignor in the waybill. An error in applying the law requiring its cassation. Rule: Article 222 of the Commercial Code provides that the air carrier shall be liable within the limits prescribed in Article 214, whatever the capacity of the parties to the liability action, their number, or the amount of compensation due. Paragraph 2 of Article 214 of that Code provides that: “In the case of carriage of baggage or goods, compensation shall not exceed 6 dinars per kilogram. However, if the consignor, upon delivery of the baggage or goods to the carrier, submits a special declaration of the interest he attaches to their delivery at destination and pays any additional charge the carrier may require in return, the carrier shall be bound by the value stated in the declaration unless the carrier proves that this value exceeds the extent of the actual interest the consignor attached to delivery.” This means—as stated in the explanatory memorandum to the Code—that if the consignor, upon delivering the goods or baggage to the carrier, submits a special declaration of the interest he attaches to their delivery at destination and pays any additional charge the carrier may require in return—as in the carriage of bullion, jewelry, and rare artifacts—the carrier must, in that case, compensate the damage within the amount stated by the consignor. Since the challenged judgment departed from this view and awarded the respondent compensation for material and moral damage for his loss of the consigned shipment, notwithstanding that compensation arising from an air carrier's liability in carrying registered baggage and goods is assessed on the basis of the value specified by the consignor in the waybill, it is vitiated by an error in applying the law requiring its cassation.