The Claim of a Passenger Injured in a Train Accident
For a passenger injured in a train accident, Georgian law provides two parallel bases, and understanding both is the source of a claim's strength. The first route is a tort, built on damage arising from the operation of a means of transport; the second route is contractual, resting on the contract of carriage. It must be said plainly: a special federal claim regime for railway workers, known in other jurisdictions, has no counterpart in Georgian law. The passenger's claim is built on the ordinary tort and contract norms, and the field of labour safety is governed by separate regulation.
Compensation of Damage Arising from the Operation
The special norm of the tort route is Article 999 of the Civil Code: the owner of a means of transport intended for the carriage of passengers and goods, where the operation of that means of transport is followed by the death, mutilation or impairment of a person's health, or damage to a thing, is obliged to compensate the victim for the damage arising therefrom. In a train accident this means that liability falls on the owner of the means of transport, and the connection of the damage with the operation must be established.
The exceptions are formulated in the same norm. The obligation to compensate damage does not apply where the cargo being transported is damaged, except where the passenger carries it along, and where a thing accepted by the owner of the means of transport for safekeeping is damaged. Likewise, the obligation does not apply where the damage is caused by force majeure, except where the damage arose during the operation of aviation transport. The fourth part concerns the allocation of fault: where a person uses a means of transport without the owner's permission, that person is obliged to compensate the damage in the owner's stead.
The passenger's position is especially strong through the contractual route. Under Article 668 of the Civil Code, by a contract of carriage the carrier is obliged, against payment of the agreed remuneration, to transport goods or convey a passenger to the place of destination. The ticket is precisely evidence of this contract. The strength of the contractual route is defined by Article 669: the carrier is answerable for damage caused to the passenger, as well as for damage to or loss of the passenger's luggage. An exception is defined as well: no liability arises where the damage is caused by force majeure or by the passenger himself, or by the passenger's luggage.
The last part of this norm is a decisive instrument: the carrier's liability cannot be excluded or limited by contract. This means that conditions in tickets or regulations that restrict liability towards the passenger have no force, and the passenger's protection remains complete.