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Harare High Court
Cristal Motor Spares (Pvt) Ltd t/a Cristal Fabrics, Crafts and Designers v South African Airways
HH 135-13
Case Details
Court
Harare High Court
Date
8 May 2013
Citation
HH 135-13
Neutral Citation
[2013] ZWHH 135
Outcome
unknown
Case Type
Trial
Bench
Presiding
Mathonsi J
Full Bench
Mathonsi J
Areas of Law
International air carriage lawContract lawCivil procedure
Keywords
Warsaw ConventionCarriage by Air ActPrescriptionArticle 26Article 29Written complaint
Tags
International carriage by airWarsaw ConventionPrescriptionWritten complaint requirement
legislation
Statutes Cited
- Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air (Warsaw Convention 1929, as amended by Hague Protocol 1955)
- Carriage by Air Act [Cap 13:04]
- Prescription Act [Cap 8:11]
ai analysis
Case Summary
Key Issues
- {"issue_text":"Whether plaintiff complied with Article 26 requirement to submit written complaint within 21 days of cargo arrival","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Cargo arrived 10 June 2008, no evidence of written complaint"}
- {"issue_text":"Whether plaintiff's claim is prescribed under Article 29's 2-year limitation period","issue_type":"procedural","dispositive":"yes","related_facts":"Cargo scheduled May 2008, summons issued May 2010"}
- {"issue_text":"Whether defendant is estopped from relying on Convention provisions","issue_type":"law","dispositive":"no","related_facts":"Alleged pre-litigation correspondence"}
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background
Facts of the Case
Background
The plaintiff, a Zimbabwean art and craft company, contracted the defendant international airline to transport cargo from Harare to Porto Alegre, Brazil for an exhibition scheduled for 2 May 2008. The cargo arrived on 10 June 2008, over a month late. The plaintiff claimed special damages of US$13,765.29 and general damages of US$51,845.00. The defendant raised a plea in abatement arguing the claim was bad at law for failure to submit a written complaint within 21 days as required by Article 26 of the Warsaw Convention, and that the claim was prescribed under Article 29.
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