This was an appeal concerning, among other issues, compensation for passenger luggage that was lost when a Greek ferry sank during a domestic trip. The passengers complained that the Piraeus Court of Appeal held that their claims were time-barred.

Held: Appeal dismissed.

By art 1 of Law 2107/1992, Greece ratified and constituted, according to art 28 of the Constitution, the Hague Rules and amending Protocols of 1968 and 1979 (the Hague-Visby Rules with SDR Protocol) as an internal rule of law with supra-legislative force. From the combination of the provisions of art 2 of the above Law and arts 1.b, 2, 3.1, 5, 10.2 and 10.3 of the aforementioned Convention, it follows that this Convention applies to Greece to: (a) any contract of carriage of goods by sea, in which the ports of loading and unloading are located in different States, provided that such carriage is covered by a bill of lading or other similar document, which is the title for the carriage of goods by sea; and b) any sea transport between Greek ports, whether a bill of lading has been issued or not. This was permitted by the legislator, extending the validity of the Convention to inland waterway transport in accordance with art 10.3 of the Convention, as replaced by art 3 of the 1968 Protocol, which provides that '[t]his Article shall not prevent a Contracting State from applying the Rules of this Convention to bills of lading not included in the preceding paragraphs'.

Moreover, according to the provision of art 148 of Law 3816/1958 on the Code of Private Maritime Law (the Code), the right to compensation for loss or damage of the loaded items is terminated after the lapse of one year from their receipt. According to art 289.4 of the Code, the annual limitation period also applies to claims arising from charterparties, transport of passengers or goods, as well as from breach of contract. However, if the claim arising from the contract includes a tort claim (art 914 of the Civil Code), this claim is subject to the five-year limitation period of art 937 of the Civil Code. However, under art 187 of the Code, as regards the loading, transporting and unloading of luggage and the responsibility of the carrier, the provisions on the carriage contract, and in particular the provisions on the carriage of goods, apply accordingly. But such provisions are now contained in the Hague-Visby Rules, which govern, as set out above, domestic shipping, regardless of whether or not a bill of lading is issued. Therefore, the above Convention now regulates, among other things, passenger claims against the carrier for compensation due to loss, damage or delayed delivery of luggage, and consequently the limitation period for these claims, in respect of which the above provisions of the Code, which concern the transfer of goods between Greek ports, are considered as repealed from the entry into force of the aforementioned Brussels Convention. Such an interpretation also corresponds to the intention of the Greek legislator (the author of the Code), which was to make the Hague-Visby Rules the domestic law for all national maritime transport.

Article 3.6 of the Hague-Visby Rules, as in force after its amendment by art 1.2 of the 1968 Protocol, stipulates that 'the carrier and the ship shall in any event be discharged from all liability whatsoever in respect of the goods, unless suit is brought within one year of their delivery or of the date when they should have been delivered'. That is to say, this provision establishes a short-term annual limitation period, which starts from the delivery of the goods or from the date on which they should have been delivered. That this is an limitation period and not an amortisation period follows from the same provision, which further states that '[t]his period may, however, be extended of the parties so agree after the cause of action has arisen', but an extension of the amortisation period for the exercise of an amortised right is not meant. The above annual limitation period, the establishment of which is due to the nature of the activity of the carrier, who, busy with many obligations, and who has to handle most disputes, must be able to make its calculations in a reasonable limitation period, applies regardless of the establishment of the right arising out of the contract of carriage or tort/delict, in accordance with art 4 bis.1 of the Convention, added by the 1968 Protocol, which stipulates that '[t]he defences and limits of liability provided for in this Convention shall apply in any action against the carrier in respect of loss or damage to goods covered by a contract of carriage whether the action be founded in contract or in tort'.

The passengers asked to be paid EUR 3,389.58 in the first instance and EUR 7,248.72 in the second, as compensation for the loss due to the wreck of their personal belongings, packed in their luggage, and the sums of money they brought with them. In rebuttal to this claim, the first defendant raised the objection of the annual limitation period under the Convention, and the Court of Appeal correctly noted in its judgment that more than a year had elapsed after the shipwreck until the lawsuit was commenced.

[For related proceedings, see AP Decision 376/2008 and AP Decision 1236/2008 (CMI785).]