CONVENTION ON THE LAW APPLICABLE TO TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
(Concluded 4 May 1971)
The States
signatory to the present Convention,
Desiring to
establish common provisions on the law applicable to civil non-contractual
liability arising from traffic accidents,
Have resolved to
conclude a Convention to this effect and have agreed upon the following
provisions -
Article 1
The present
Convention shall determine the law applicable to civil non-contractual
liability arising from traffic accidents, in whatever kind of proceeding it is
sought to enforce this liability.
For the purpose
of this Convention, a traffic accident shall mean an accident which involves
one or more vehicles, whether motorised or not, and is connected with traffic
on the public highway, in grounds open to the public or in private grounds to
which certain persons have a right of access.
Article 2
The present
Convention shall not apply -
(1)
to the liability of manufacturers, sellers or repairers of vehicles;
(2) to the responsibility of the owner, or of any other person, for
the maintenance of a way open to traffic or for the safety of its users;
(3) to vicarious liability, with the exception of the liability of
an owner of a vehicle, or of a principal, or of a master;
(4) to recourse actions among persons liable;
(5) to recourse actions and to subrogation in so far as insurance
companies are concerned;
(6) to actions and recourse actions by or against social insurance
institutions, other similar institutions and public automobile guarantee funds,
and to any exemption from liability laid down by the law which governs these
institutions.
Article 3
The applicable
law is the internal law of the State where the accident occurred.
Article 4
Subject to
Article 5, the following exceptions are made to the provisions of Article 3 -
a) where
only one vehicle is involved in the accident and it is registered in a State
other than that where the accident occurred, the internal law of the State of
registration is applicable to determine liability
- towards the driver, owner or any
other person having control of or an interest in the vehicle irrespective of
their habitual residence,
- towards a victim who is a
passenger and whose habitual residence is in a State other than that where the
accident occurred,
- towards a victim who is outside
the vehicle at the place of the accident and whose habitual residence is in the
State of registration.
Where there are
two or more victims the applicable law is determined separately for each of
them.
b) Where two or more vehicles are involved in the accident, the
provisions of a) are
applicable only if all the vehicles are registered in the same State.
c) Where one or more persons
outside the vehicle or vehicles at the place of the accident are involved in
the accident and may be liable, the provisions of a) and b) are applicable only if all these
persons have their habitual residence in the State of registration. The same is
true even though these persons are also victims of the accident.
Article 5
The law
applicable under Articles 3 and 4 to liability towards a passenger who is a
victim governs liability for damage to goods carried in the vehicle and which
either belong to the passenger or have been entrusted to his care.
The law
applicable under Articles 3 and 4 to liability towards the owner of the vehicle
governs liability for damage to goods carried in the vehicle other than goods
covered in the preceding paragraph.
Liability for
damage to goods outside the vehicle or vehicles is governed by the internal law
of the State where the accident occurred. However the liability for damage to
the personal belongings of the victim outside the vehicle or vehicles is
governed by the internal law of the State of registration when that law would
be applicable to the liability towards the victim according to Article 4.
Article 6
In the case of
vehicles which have no registration or which are registered in several States
the internal law of the State in which they are habitually stationed shall
replace the law of the State of registration. The same shall be true if neither
the owner nor the person in possession or control nor the driver of the vehicle
has his habitual residence in the State of registration at the time of the
accident.
Article 7
Whatever may be
the applicable law, in determining liability account shall be taken of rules
relating to the control and safety of traffic which were in force at the place
and time of the accident.
Article 8
The applicable
law shall determine, in particular -
(1)
the basis and extent of liability;
(2) the grounds for exemption from liability, any limitation of
liability, and any division of liability;
(3) the existence and kinds of injury or damage which may have to
be compensated;
(4) the kinds and extent of damages;
(5) the question whether a right to damages may be assigned or
inherited;
(6) the persons who have suffered damage and who may claim damages
in their own right;
(7) the liability of a principal for the acts of his agent or of a
master for the acts of his servant;
(8) rules of prescription and limitation, including rules relating
to the commencement of a period of prescription or limitation, and the
interruption and suspension of this period.
Article 9
Persons who have
suffered injury or damage shall have a right of direct action against the
insurer of the person liable if they have such a right under the law applicable
according to Articles 3, 4 or 5.
If the law of
the State of registration is applicable under Articles 4 or 5 and that law
provides no right of direct action, such a right shall nevertheless exist if it
is provided by the internal law of the State where the accident occurred.
If neither of
these laws provides any such right it shall exist if it is provided by the law
governing the contract of insurance.
Article 10
The application
of any of the laws declared applicable by the present Convention may be refused
only when it is manifestly contrary to public policy ("ordre public").
Article 11
The application
of Articles 1 to 10 of this Convention shall be independent of any requirement
of reciprocity. The Convention shall be applied even if the applicable law is
not that of a Contracting State.
Article 12
Every
territorial entity forming part of a State having a non-unified legal system
shall be considered as a State for the purposes of Articles 2 to 11 when it has
its own legal system, in respect of civil non-contractual liability arising
from traffic accidents.
Article 13
A State having a
non-unified legal system is not bound to apply this Convention to accidents
occurring in that State which involve only vehicles registered in territorial
units of that State.
Article 14
A State having a
non-unified legal system may, at the time of signature, ratification or
accession, declare that this Convention shall extend to all its legal systems
or only to one or more of them, and may modify its declaration at any time
thereafter, by making a new declaration.
These
declarations shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Netherlands and shall state expressly the legal systems to which the Convention
applies.
Article 15
This Convention
shall not prevail over other Conventions in special fields to which the
Contracting States are or may become Parties and which contain provisions
concerning civil non-contractual liability arising out of a traffic accident.
Article 16
The present
Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented at the
Eleventh Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
It shall be
ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
Article 17
The present
Convention shall enter into force on the sixtieth day after the deposit of the
third instrument of ratification referred to in the second paragraph of Article
16.
The Convention
shall enter into force for each signatory State which ratifies subsequently on
the sixtieth day after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.
Article 18
Any State not
represented at the Eleventh Session of the Hague Conference on Private
International Law which is a Member of this Conference or of the United Nations
or of a specialised agency of that Organisation, or a Party to the Statute of
the International Court of Justice may accede to the present Convention after
it has entered into force in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 17.
The instrument
of accession shall be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Netherlands.
The Convention
shall enter into force for a State acceding to it on the sixtieth day after the
deposit of its instrument of accession.
The accession
will have effect only as regards the relations between the acceding State and
such Contracting States as will have declared their acceptance of the
accession. Such a declaration shall be deposited at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Netherlands; this Ministry shall forward, through diplomatic
channels, a certified copy to each of the Contracting States.
The Convention
will enter into force as between the acceding State and the State having
declared to accept the accession on the sixtieth day after the deposit of the
declaration of acceptance.
Article 19
Any State may,
at the time of signature, ratification or accession, declare that the present
Convention shall extend to all the territories for the international relations
of which it is responsible, or to one or more of them. Such a declaration shall
take effect on the date of entry into force of the Convention for the State
concerned.
At any time
thereafter, such extensions shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Netherlands.
The Convention
shall enter into force for the territories mentioned in such an extension on
the sixtieth day after the notification indicated in the preceding paragraph.
Article 20
The present
Convention shall remain in force for five years from the date of its entry into
force in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 17, even for States
which have ratified it or acceded to it subsequently.
If there has
been no denunciation, it shall be renewed tacitly every five years.
Any denunciation
shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands at
least six months before the end of the five year period.
It may be
limited to certain of the territories to which the Convention applies.
The denunciation
shall have effect only as regards the State which has notified it. The
Convention shall remain in force for the other Contracting States.
Article 21
The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands shall give notice to the States referred to
in Article 16, and to the States which have acceded in accordance with Article
18 of the following -
a) the
signatures and ratifications referred to in Article 16;
b) the date on which the present
Convention enters into force in accordance with the first paragraph of Article
17;
c) the accessions referred to in
Article 18 and the dates on which they take effect;
d) the declarations referred to in
Articles 14 and 19;
e) the denunciations referred to
in the third paragraph of Article 20.
In witness
whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed the present
Convention.
Done at The
Hague, on the 4th day of May, 1971, in the English and French languages, both
texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the
archives of the Government of the Netherlands, and of which a certified copy
shall be sent, through the diplomatic channel, to each of the States
represented at the Eleventh Session of the Hague Conference on Private
International Law.
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