To practice justice and right’ – international aviation liability: have lessons been learnt?

This paper focuses on commercial air operations and the development of the aviation liability and compensation framework. It focuses on the efficiency of the international system in respect to liability for third party surface damage and loss of life and compares this against the provisions for second party liability. The paper considers the implications of Lockerbie and 9/11 and whether the industry should have been better prepared from a compensatory perspective. The research asks questions about states' reticence for uniformity. Ultimately, the focus lies on whether the practise of justice and right exists fairly to all under the current liability regime. It is concluded that insufficient progress has been made in relation to third party liability for surface damage and that a fragmented and uncoordinated system still exists. Without uniformity in international aviation law there will remain an unequal mechanism, which is contrary to the practise of natural justice.