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On June 10, 2024, the Honourable Justice Jasmine Akbarali of the Ontario Superior Court docket of Justice launched her judgment in a mass tort legal responsibility trial introduced towards Ukraine Worldwide Airways JSC (“UIA”) by the estates and members of the family of the passengers who tragically died aboard UIA Flight PS752 when it was shot down on January 8, 2020, by two surface-to-air missiles launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”).
This legal responsibility trial decided UIA’s accountability in 101 particular person actions and one class continuing, nearly all ruled by the Montreal Conference and the Carriage by Air Act.
In a 78-page resolution delivered after an 18-day trial, Justice Akbarali held that UIA had failed to satisfy its distinctive burden underneath the Montreal Conference to show that it was not negligent in permitting Flight PS752 to depart from Tehran within the early hours of January 8, 2020. As such, UIA has limitless legal responsibility to the estates and members of the family of the deceased passengers for his or her compensable damages.
On the morning of January 8, 2020, Flight PS752 departed from Tehran Imam Khomeini Worldwide Airport (“IKA”). Minutes after takeoff, Flight PS752 was shot down by the IRGC, and all 176 passengers and crew misplaced their lives.
Justice Akbarali discovered that UIA, by permitting Flight PS752 to depart within the circumstances that existed at IKA on the morning of January 8, 2020, breached the usual of care anticipated of worldwide air carriers working over or close to battle zones.
Justice Akbarali discovered that on the morning of January 8, 2020, the Tehran FIR was a “textbook example of a conflict zone.” There had been months of escalating navy battle between Iran and the US main as much as the morning January 8, which included a US missile assault at a world civilian airport (Baghdad Worldwide Airport) on January third, which focused and killed the main common of the IRGC. Iran adopted with retaliatory missile strikes on two US navy bases in Iraq a couple of hours earlier than the scheduled departure of Flight PS752. Justice Akbarali famous that UIA’s personal skilled testified that “prior to the take-off of PS752, Iran would have been in a heightened state of military alert or tension, as it would have been anticipating retaliatory strikes from the United States.”
Underneath the circumstances, a radical battle zone danger evaluation was required to find out whether or not Flight PS752 ought to have been canceled or at the very least delayed.
Justice Akbarali discovered that UIA breached the usual of take care of battle zone danger assessments. The predominant focus of her prolonged and cautious evaluation was UIA’s “lackadaisical approach” to safety assessments. She discovered that had the safety evaluation been performed appropriately, UIA would have reached the identical conclusion because the plaintiffs’ aviation safety skilled John M. Edwards—the flight ought to have been canceled or at the very least delayed.
The plaintiffs on this continuing have been comprised of the households and estates of 103 passengers who tragically died aboard Flight PS752. The households and estates of 73 of those passengers have been represented at trial by Vincent Genova, Peter Jervis, Douglas Worndl, and Pritpal Mann of Rochon Genova LLP (“RG”). The profitable trial consequence was resulting from a crew effort amongst counsel from different companies who participated and performed distinctive roles. As Justice Akbarali acknowledged, “Rochon Genova LLP took the lead for the plaintiffs with respect to the issues around the sufficiency of the security threat risk assessment, which analytically was very important ….” RG is grateful for the contributions of the opposite companies who commenced actions and represented the estates and households of the opposite 30 passengers.
Lead trial counsel Vincent Genova commented “It was the greatest honour of my career to have been asked to represent the families of 73 passengers in their efforts to obtain accountability from those responsible for this terrible, and entirely avoidable, tragedy. I commend Justice Akbarali for her thoughtful consideration throughout the trial, and for her carefully reasoned and comprehensive judgment which sends a firm message to the civil aviation industry that, in making any operational decisions, their paramount responsibility and obligation is to protect the safety and lives of their passengers.”
This resolution is the primary trial consideration of the usual of care anticipated of worldwide airways working over or close to battle zones.
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