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Malaysia Airlines should propose claim scheme

Xinhua, April 7, 2014

• Two Chinese legal experts have suggested Malaysia Airlines propose a scheme to compensate relatives of passengers aboard the missing MH370 flight.

  Zhu Ziqin, a research fellow with the Research Center of Air and Space Law at China University of Political Science and Law, told Xinhua on Monday that Malaysia Airlines should come up with a claim scheme, whether relatives want them to or not.

  Zhu said the amount of indemnity should be based on the contract reached between the airline and insurance companies, and that legal professionals helping the involved families therefore need to learn about the contract.

  Zhang Qihuai, chief expert of the China Aviation Legal Service Center, suggested Malaysia Airlines compensate according to the Montreal Convention. Both China and malaysia have ratified the convention.

  The convention provides that as long as casualties are involved, air carriers are liable for 113,000 special drawing rights, a mix of currency values established by the International Monetary Fund, for each passenger and may be liable for further compensation if found responsible.

  The MH370 flight bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur disappeared on March 8. More than 20 countries have gathered to try to work out its fate, although no debris has been found yet.

  There were 239 people on board MH370, including 154 Chinese passengers.

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