Laws on common carriers, Slides of Law

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LAWS ON COMMON

CARRIERS

Law on Common Carriers

• (^) The primary law that governs coomon carriers is the Civil Code of the Philippines as clearly implied in Article 1766 thereof which states that "in all matters not regulated by this code, the rights and obligations of common carriers shall be governed by Code of Commerce and Special Law.

Nature of contract of

carriege

• A contract to transport passengers is quite different in kind and degree from any other contractual relation, and this is because of the relation which an air carrier sustain with the public.

Responsibility of Common

Carriers

Article 1733

• Common carriers from the nature of this business and for reasons of public policy, are bound to observe extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods and for the safety of the passengers transported to all circumstances of each case.

Article 1757

• The responsibility of a common carrier for the safety of passengers required in Article 1733 and 1755 cannot be dispend with or lessened with stipulation by the posting of notice, by statements or tickets otherwise.

Liabilities of Common Carriers for

the Acts of Employees and Strangers

Article 1759

• Common carriers are liable for the death or injuries to the passengers through negligence or willful acts of the former employees, although such employees may have been acted beyond the scope of their authority or in violation of the orders of the common carriers.
• The liability of the common carrier does not cease upon proof that they exercised the diligence of a good father of a family in the selection and supervision of their employees.

Damage recoverable from

common carriers

In an action based on culpa contractual or culpa aquilina, the damages that are recoverable are as follows; actual damages, compensatory damages, moral damages, exemplary damages, death indemnity and attorney's fees. Nominal damages may be awarded in case of moral or exemplary may not be awarded. a.)Actual damages consist in expenses for medicine, hospitalization, etc.

b.) Unrealized profits are recoverable as compensatory damages which shall be fixed by determining in the next yearly income of the injured or deceased passenger and multiplying the same by the number of years that he was expected to live or lead a gainful existence as determined by the mortality table or life insurance company of the Philippines. c.) Moral damages may be awarded when the mishap resulted in the death of a passenger, or when the heirs of the deceased suffered mental anguish, or when the carrier was guilty for fraud or bad faith even if the death did not result. The big amount of damages will be awarded in view of the importance of the person of the passenger.

Nature of Airline, Bus, and

Shipping ticket

The best evidence of a contract of carriege is the passage ticket. Under jurisprudence, an airline, bus, or shipping ticket is a contract of adhesion considering that all the provisions thereof are prepared and drafted only by the carrier. The only participation left of the other party is to affix his signature thereto. In such situation the Supreme Court ruled that terms thereof must be interpreted against the party who drafted the same in this carrier.