Deep Vein Thrombosis and Air Travel Group Litigation, (H.L.) 19, 20 October-8 December 2005, [2006] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 231

In a litigation between airlines passengers and air carriers, in which the claimants alleged that they had suffered deep vein thrombosis, the question as to the scope that should be given to the term "accident" in article 17 of the Warsaw Convention 1929 had arisen. The claims were rejected at first instance and the appeal of the claimant was rejected by the Court of Appeal. The claimants appealed to the House of Lords and in the judgment delivered by Baroness Hale of Richmond the approach to the interpretation of international conventions was considered.

Held, by the House of Lords , that:

[1] The concepts deployed in an international convention are autonomous international concepts.
[2] The legislative history and the travaux préparatoires of an international convention may be considered to resolve ambiguities or obscurities, when the material is publicly available and points to a definite consensus among delegates.
[3] A consensus of domestic legal authority in higher courts of significant standing can weigh significantly in the determination of the meaning of the provisions of an international convention.