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A
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Bill
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To
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Place
a responsibility on airlines for the health, welfare and well-being of
their
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passengers; in that connection, to amend
the Carriage by Air Act 1961; and for
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connected purposes.
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Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and
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consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present
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Parliament assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:—
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1 Responsibility
for health, welfare and well-being of passengers
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(1) It
shall be the responsibility of airlines to which this Act applies, so
far as is
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reasonably practicable, to protect
and promote the health, welfare and well-
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being of their passengers.
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(2) The
general responsibility to protect and promote the health, welfare and
well-
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being of passengers includes particular
responsibilities—
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(a) to
seek to prevent the occurrence or unnecessary aggravation of any
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injury, illness or disease;
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(b) for
the mental and psychological health, welfare and well-being of
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passengers;
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(c) for
the provision and maintenance of equipment that is, so far as is
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reasonably practicable, safe and without
risks to the health, welfare and
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well-being of passengers;
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(d) for
the provision of such information, instruction, training and
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supervision to staff as is necessary
to protect and promote the health,
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welfare and well-being of passengers;
and
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(e) for
the provision of such information and instruction to passengers as
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is necessary to protect and promote
their health, welfare and well-
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being.
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2 Duty
of Secretary of State to issue codes of practice
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(1) It
shall be the duty of the Secretary of State from time to time to issue
codes of
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practice relating to compliance with
the responsibility placed on airlines by
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section 1.
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(2) Before
issuing a code of practice under subsection (1) the Secretary of State
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shall consult—
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(a) the
airlines to which this Act applies, and
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(b) such
other persons and bodies as are, in his opinion, likely to be
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concerned with the code of practice.
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(3) Where
a code of practice is issued under subsection (1), the Secretary of State
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shall also issue a notice in writing
stating the date on which it is to take effect.
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(4) A
code of practice issued under subsection (1) and a notice issued under
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subsection (3) must be—
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(a) laid
before Parliament, and
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(b) published
in such form as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
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3 Airlines
to which this Act applies
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(1) Subject
to the provisions of subsection (2), this Act applies to—
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(a) all
carriers to whom the Warsaw Convention as amended at The
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Hague, 1955 (hereafter “the Convention”)
applies by virtue of Schedule
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1 to the 1961 Act; and
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(b) all
carriers to whom Schedule 1 to the 1961 Act applies by virtue of an
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Order in Council made under section
10 of that Act (application to
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carriage by air not governed by Convention).
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(2) This
Act shall not apply to the carriage of members of the armed forces
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where—
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(a) that
carriage takes place in pursuance of a duty or a commitment as a
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member of the armed forces, and
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(b) the
whole capacity of the aircraft has been reserved for such carriage.
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(3) In
this section “members of the armed forces” means all persons
within the
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meanings of the “regular services”
or of the “reserve forces” given in section
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127 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996
(c. 14) (interpretation).
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4 Liability
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Where an airline to which this Act applies
has negligently failed to comply
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with the responsibility specified in section
1
or with a requirement of a code of
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practice under section 2,
the airline shall be liable in respect of damages arising
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from such negligent failure.
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5 Claim
by person suffering adverse effect
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An action under this section may be brought
by a person suffering or claiming
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to have suffered an adverse effect on his
health, welfare or well-being in
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consequence of being the passenger of an
airline to which this Act applies
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which was responsible for a negligent failure
under section 4.
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6 Claim
on behalf of deceased person
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(1) An
action under this section may be brought on behalf of, and for the benefit
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of, the dependants of a person specified
in subsection (2) (“the deceased”).
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(2) A
person is specified in this subsection if—
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(a) he
suffered or claimed to have suffered an adverse effect on his health,
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welfare or well-being in consequence
of being the passenger of an
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airline to which this Act applies which
was responsible for a negligent
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failure under section 4,
and
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(b) that
person subsequently died.
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(3) An
action under this section may be brought by and in the name of the executor
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or administrator of the deceased.
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(4) If—
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(a) there
is no executor or administrator of the deceased, or
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(b) no
action is brought within six months after the death by and in the
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name of an executor or administrator
of the deceased,
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an
action under this section may be brought by and in the name of all or
any of
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the dependants of the deceased.
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(5) In
this section, “dependants” has the same meaning as in section
1 of the Fatal
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Accidents Act 1976 (c. 30) (right
of action for wrongful act causing death).
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7 Provision
of information by claimant
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The claimant in the action shall be required
to deliver to the defendant or his
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solicitor full particulars of the person
for whom or on whose behalf the action
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is brought and of the nature of the claim
in respect of which damages are
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sought to be recovered.
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8 Contributory
negligence
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Where any person suffered damage to their
health, welfare and well-being
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partly in consequence of being the passenger
of an airline to which this Act
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applies which was responsible for a negligent
failure under section 4
and
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partly of his own fault, any damages recoverable
in an action under this Act
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shall be reduced to a proportionate extent.
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9 Amendments
of the 1961 Act
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(1) The
1961 Act shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After
section 1(1A) (Convention to have force of law), there shall be inserted—
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“(1B) Where
the provisions of the Convention conflict with the provisions of
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the
Aviation Health Act 2003, the provisions of the Convention shall
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not
have the force of law.”
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(3) In
section 4(1) (limitation of liability), after the word “enforced”,
there shall be
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inserted “other than proceedings
in respect of a liability under section 4
of the
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Aviation Health Act 2003”.
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10 The
Crown
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This Act does not bind the Crown.
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11 Expenses
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There
shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament any expenditure incurred
by
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the Secretary
of State for or in connection with the carrying out of any of his functions
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under
this Act.
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12 Territorial
application
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(1) This
Act applies in relation to—
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(a) a
function or activity performed or carried out in the United Kingdom,
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and
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(b) an
aviation function performed or an activity ancillary to an aviation
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function carried out on a United Kingdom
aircraft.
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(2) For
the purposes of subsection (1)(b) the following (and only the following)
are
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aviation functions—
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(a) acting
as a pilot of an aircraft during flight,
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(b) acting
as flight navigator of an aircraft during flight,
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(c) acting
as flight engineer of an aircraft during flight,
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(d) acting
as flight radio-telephony operator of an aircraft during flight,
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(e) acting
as a member of the cabin crew of an aircraft during flight, and
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(f) acting
as a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer.
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(3) For
the purposes of subsection (2)(f) a person acts as a licensed aircraft
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maintenance engineer if—
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(a) he
issues a document relating to the maintenance, condition or use of
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an aircraft or equipment in reliance
on a licence granted under or by
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virtue of an enactment relating to aviation,
or
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(b) he
carries out or supervises work on an aircraft or equipment with a
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view to, or in connection with, the
issue by him of a document of the
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kind specified in paragraph (a).
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(4) For
the purposes of subsection (1)(b) a reference to an activity which is
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ancillary to an aviation function is
a reference to anything which falls to be
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treated as such by virtue of subsections
(5) to (7).
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(5) An
activity shall be treated as ancillary to an aviation function if it is
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undertaken—
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(a) by
a person who has reported for a period of duty in respect of the
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function, and
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(b) as
a requirement of, for the purpose of or in connection with the
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performance of the function during that
period of duty.
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(6) A
person who in accordance with the terms of an employment or undertaking
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holds himself ready to perform an aviation
function if called upon shall be
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treated as carrying out an activity
ancillary to the function.
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(7) Where
a person sets out to perform an aviation function, anything which he
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does by way of preparing to perform
the function shall be treated as an activity
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ancillary to it.
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(8) For
the purposes of this Act it is immaterial whether a person performs a
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function or carries out an activity
in the course of an employment or trade or
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otherwise.
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(9) In
subsection (1)(a) “United Kingdom aircraft” means an aircraft
which is
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registered, in accordance with an enactment
about aircraft, in the United
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Kingdom.
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13 Interpretation
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(1) In
this Act, unless otherwise specified, terms have the same meanings as
in the
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1961 Act.
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(2) In
this Act—
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“the
1961 Act” means the Carriage by Air Act 1961 (c. 27);
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“airlines
to which this Act applies” has the meaning given in section 3;
and
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“the
Convention” means the Warsaw Convention as amended at The
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Hague,
1955.
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14 Short
title and commencement
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(1) This
Act may be cited as the Aviation Health Act 2003.
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(2) This
Act shall come into force at the end of the period of three months
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beginning with the day on which it
is passed.
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