상법상 항공운송인 책임감면 규정에 관한 고찰

This study reexamines the legal structure and legislative intent of Article 898 of the Commercial Act in light of the modern reality of air transport and explores its practical applicability. Article 898 of the Commercial Act is a core legal principle that adjusts the scope of liability of carriers in the modern air transport environment. This provision stipulates cases in which the liability of carriers or aircraft operators is reduced or exempted. It stipulates grounds for reduction of liability of carriers or operators for damages for legitimate claims for damages, and among them, it presents criteria for adjusting the liability of carriers or operators, focusing on cases in which the negligence or illegal acts of the victim caused or contributed to the expansion of damages. This provision is particularly significant in that it should be interpreted in conjunction with the overall liability provisions of carriers, including Article 905, Paragraph 1 of the Commercial Act, which stipulates absolute liability and strict liability of air transporters. The legislative intent of this provision is based on equity and the principle of negligence liability. In other words, if the victim’s negligence contributed to the occurrence or expansion of damage, it is unfair to hold the carrier or operator entirely responsible, so the fairness of the division of responsibility is sought by allowing the offender’s responsibility to be reduced or exempted according to the contribution ratio to the occurrence of the result. This functions as a legal device that seeks a reasonable distribution of legal responsibility in the complexly intertwined interests of modern society. Article 898 of the Commercial Act can be evaluated as a provision that seeks to harmonize the principle of negligence responsibility and fairness by setting a certain limit on the absolute responsibility of the carrier. This is because it is a provision that has both legal legitimacy and practical utility in that it does not uniformly recognize the responsibility of the carrier, but analyzes the cause of the damage in a multifaceted way and adjusts responsibility according to the actual contribution. Since it also has consistency in its contact with international air transport, it is expected that there will be continuous accumulation of interpretation theories as a principle of adjusting responsibility across air transport.