[Peetwo]

NOK take the Montreal Convention to the High Court - 

Very much related - to (yet again) the piss poor treatment by Governments and insurance companies etc..etc; of the victims of air crashes and their NOK - I note the following from the Oz two days ago...

Grief goes to the High Court

SAM BUCKINGHAM-JONES
The death of a man 12 years ago has snowballed from a small lawsuit into a case that could have global ramifications.

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Family’s grief finds its way to the High Court

The death of a husband and father in country NSW 12 years ago has snowballed from a small lawsuit in the NSW District Court into a case with possible international ramifications, and will be considered in the High Court this year.

Ian Stephenson was 43 when, during an aerial survey of noxious weeds for Parkes Shire Council in February 2006, he, a colleague and a pilot were killed as their helicopter collided with powerlines.

This tragedy devastated the Stephenson family. “It’s a struggle every day to do ordinary things,” widow Ingrid Stephenson said.

“It’s like a part of us has been cut out and isn’t there.”

In 2009, three years after the accident, Ms Stephenson started a lawsuit that over a decade became a complex battle between the council, South West Helicopters, which provided the pilot and aircraft, and energy companies. As the family won in the NSW ­Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, their case exposed ­conflicts in how the Court of ­Appeal and the Federal Court ­approached aviation cases.

The council has special leave to ask the High Court to determine a crucial point in the legislation: can the immediate family of a passenger killed on a flight claim for psychiatric injury under federal and state civil aviation laws?

Barrister David Baran acted for the family, which is no longer ­directly involved in the landmark case the tragedy has prompted.

“You’ve got two appellate courts, the NSW Court of Appeal and the Full Federal Court, who are saying completely different things about the same subject,” he said. “It’s for the High Court to resolve this issue once and for all.”

The case is now between South West Helicopters and the council.

The latter, which has paid compensation to the family, has ­argued that immediate family are entitled to bring nervous shock claims under state liability laws and therefore South West should compensate the council for some of what it paid.

South West, represented by former Australian solicitor-­general Justin Gleeson SC, says federal aviation laws cover any ­action, and since the family did not bring a case until after the two-year window for claims, South West is not liable for any damages.

In commercial aviation, international conventions govern most of how the law interacts with ­people. On the back of plane ­tickets, there is a contract that ­details the legal relationship into which passengers enter by flying.

The Civil Aviation (Carriers Liability) Act is the federal vehicle through which international conventions operate. State and territory counterparts deal with dom­estic travel.

It will be argued in the High Court that the federal act does not specifically mention psychiatric injury to non-passengers.

If the High Court rules in favour of the council, it would mean relatives of future aviation disaster victims could independently sue through the NSW Civil Liability Act.

Mr Baran said he has had “many, many, many people” calling him about the case. “There are people involved in MH370, a lot of airline disasters, MH17, all sorts,” he said. “It really is one of the most important tort or common law cases to arrive on the steps of the High Court in years.”

MTF...P2