Trans World Airlines, Inc v. Franklin Mint Corporation and Others

Abstract

Air — Civil air transport — Liability of international air carriers — Loss of cargo — Warsaw Convention, 1929, Articles 22 and 23 — Liability limit linked to value of gold — Liability limit expressed by air carrier in United States dollars — Method of conversion — ValidityRelationship of international law and municipal law — Status of treaties in United States law — Self-executing treaties — Whether provisions of self-executing treaty can be abrogated by enactment of conflicting domestic legislation — Presumption that Congress did not intend to legislate in a manner contrary to treaty obligations — Statement by Executive that treaty obligation extant — Whether conclusiveTreaties — Effect in municipal law — Whether conferring rights upon individuals — Warsaw Convention, 1929 — Allegation by plaintiff that treaty provisions rendered inoperative by doctrine of rebus sic stantibus — Assertion by treaty parties that treaty extant — Whether plaintiff precluded from asserting doctrineEconomics, trade and finance — Gold — “Official” price of gold in the United States — Warsaw Convention, 1929, Article 22 — Liability limit of air carriers linked to value of gold — Abolition of “official” price of gold in the United States — Effect on enforceability of Convention in the United States588Treaties — Interpretation — Principles of interpretation — Application by municipal courts — Object and purpose — Reference to travaux préparatoires — Subsequent practice of the parties — Warsaw Convention, 1929, Article 22 — The law of the United States