Libro IV · Título II Capítulo VI. Del transporte

By the contract of carriage, the carrier undertakes, for a certain price, to convey from one place to another passengers or merchandise belonging to others, which must be delivered to the consignee.

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to carriage by land, by water and by air.

The carrier shall assume the obligations and responsibilities of the carriage even if it uses the services of third parties.

If two or more carriers participate in a contract of carriage, each shall be liable within the scope of its respective performance.

If a combined transport is agreed, a single document shall be issued and the carriers shall be jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract.

Even if the combined transport begins or concludes outside the territory of the Republic, the carriers domiciled in Guatemala shall only be liable under the terms of the Guatemalan laws and before the tribunals of the Republic.

The actions derived from the contract of carriage shall prescribe in six months, counted from the end of the journey, or from the date on which the passenger or the things carried should have arrived at their destination.

The carriers shall be liable for the damages that the vehicles cause even when the person who drives them is not an employee of the carrier, provided that the vehicle has been entrusted to the carrier, even transitorily.

The liability to which this article refers shall cease if it is proven that the injured party gave rise to the resulting damage or injury, or when it has proceeded in manifest violation of the laws and regulations.

If the carrier receives the baggage with a value declared by the passenger, the damages that are caused shall be regulated by that value, unless it is proven that it is higher than the real one.

If no value has been declared, the liability of the carrier shall be limited to an amount equal, per kilogram of baggage, to the amount of the fare that corresponds to a journey of fifty kilometers.

If it concerns baggage not delivered to the carrier, the latter shall have no liability for loss or damage, unless the passenger proves that they were due to a cause attributable to the carrier.

The carrier shall be liable for the damages that the passengers suffer due to delays or non-performance of the contract if they are due to negligence (culpa) of the company.

In air transports, the expenses of stay and transfer of travelers who, for reasons of service or weather, are obliged to make unforeseen stops or deviations in the respective routes and schedules shall be at the charge of the carrier, even without negligence attributable to the carrier.

The carrier must deliver to the passenger a ticket stating the name of the company, the date of the journey, the number of pieces of baggage and the other circumstances of the transport.

In relation to the baggage that is delivered to the carrier, the latter shall deliver a check tag that identifies it.

The term consignor, sender or shipper means the one who, for its own account or for the account of another, entrusts the carrier with the carriage of merchandise.

The consignor, together with the goods that are the object of the contract, must deliver to the carrier the documents necessary for the transit of the cargo.

It is obliged, likewise, to indicate to the carrier the address of the consignee, the place of delivery, the number, weight, form of packing and content of the packages, stating the kind and quality of the goods that they contain and, in the event that the carrier may carry out the transport by different means, it shall identify these and the route that must be followed.

The consignor shall bear the damages that result from the lack of documents, from the inaccuracy or omission of the declarations that it must formulate, and from the damages that arise from hidden defects of the packing.

If the carrier carries out the transport knowing that the documents necessary for the transit of the cargo have not been delivered to it, the damages shall be at its charge.

The consignor shall be liable for the damages occasioned by hidden defects of the thing.

The carrier must issue a receipt of having received the cargo, which it shall deliver to the consignor or, if the latter demands it, a consignment note or bill of lading.

In every case, the carrier shall be empowered to demand the opening and examination of the packages at the moment of their delivery.

As long as the consignee has not requested the delivery of the merchandise, when it has arrived at its place of destination, the consignor may designate a new consignee.

If a consignment note has been issued, the power that this article grants may not be exercised, except by means of its return and the payment of the expenses that the issuance of a new one originates.

The consignor may rescind the contract before the journey begins, after payment of half of the freight and return of the consignment note.

The carrier must place the transported things at the disposal of the consignee at the place, within the time limit and with the modalities indicated in the contract.

If the delivery must be made at a place other than the domicile of the consignee, the carrier shall give it immediate notice of the arrival of the transported things.

Whoever assumes the status of consignee must receive the things within a term of twenty-four hours, from the moment in which the carrier places them at its disposal, and provided that they meet the conditions indicated in the consignment note.

If part of the objects is damaged, it must receive those that are undamaged, provided that, separated from the former, they do not suffer a serious decrease in their value.

The consignee must open and examine the packages at the moment of their receipt, if the carrier requests it; if the consignee refuses to do so, the carrier shall be free of the responsibilities that do not arise from fraud or from intent (dolo).

The actions for damage or loss shall lapse if, within the ten days following the delivery of the transported things, the corresponding claim is not presented to the carrier.

If the carrier undertakes with the sender to collect the value of the transported things upon making their delivery, it shall be liable vis-à-vis the sender if it does not make such collection and may not demand from it the payment of what is owed to it for the transport.

If the carrier does not find the consignee at the indicated place, the deposit of the merchandise shall be arranged by the local judge, at the disposal of the consignor or sender.

If the consignee refuses to receive the transported merchandise, the procedure indicated shall be followed, depositing it in favor of the consignee.

The proceedings shall be conducted through the voluntary jurisdiction, observing the consignment procedure and, before ordering the delivery thereof to whom it corresponds, the latter must cover the expenses of transport, storage and accessories and the value of the merchandise, in that order.

If the merchandise is of easy decomposition or there is danger that the thing perishes, the provisions relating to the sale of property in deposit shall be followed and, from the price that is obtained, the expenses mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be paid with preference.

The carrier shall be liable for the total or partial loss of the transported goods and for the damages that they suffer for damage or delay, unless it proves that they were due to an inherent defect of the thing, to its special nature, to fortuitous event, force majeure or to an act or instructions of the consignor or consignee.

Such damages shall be calculated in accordance with the price that the things had in the place and time in which they should have been delivered.

Carriers may by agreement release themselves from liability for delay, or limit it both for this case and for that of loss, only by means of tariffs in which a freight rate lower than the ordinary ones is fixed, and provided that the shipper is in a position to choose between the application of this reduced tariff and the general one, according to which the carrier shall be liable in the terms of the preceding article.

If the sender delivers for transport goods that produce a freight rate higher than the one corresponding to the merchandise declared, the carrier shall only be liable for the value of the declared goods, from which he shall deduct ten percent (10%) if the shipper has acted in bad faith.

In the event that the sender has declared goods of a value higher than those actually shipped, the carrier shall only be liable for the value of the latter, with a deduction of ten percent (10%) if the shipper has acted in bad faith.

The absence of liability of the carrier is presumed, in the event of loss or damage of the goods transported, when they are due to any of the following causes:

1º.That the things are transported, with the written conformity of the sender, in uncovered vehicles, provided that due to their nature they should have been transported in closed or covered vehicles.

2º.In the case of transport of explosives, flammable or corrosive substances and other articles of a dangerous nature.

3º.If the things are transported under the care of persons placed by the sender for that purpose.

When the sender makes the load in a full car or compartment, he shall have the following rights:

1º.To seal them himself, or to have them sealed by the company.

2º.To break the seals in the presence of a person authorized to receive the load and of an employee authorized by the company.

The company shall have the right to obtain, before the breaking, a written record of the state of the seals.

When, in order to comply with tax or health provisions, the car or compartment is opened before reaching its destination, the respective employee shall examine the seals before they are broken and shall take note of their state and their number; thereafter, he shall issue a document in which he shall state such rights and the number of the new seals.

In the different cases of this article, the carrier shall only be liable for the integrity of the car or compartment and of the seals, unless the damage suffered is due to fortuitous event or force majeure.

The load that the transporter cannot deliver within the thirty days following the conclusion of the time limit within which he should have delivered it shall be presumed lost.

If the carrier finds it afterwards, he shall give notice to the person entitled to receive it so that, within a term of eight days, that person declares whether he consents to its being delivered to him, without additional expenses, at the point of departure or at the point of destination. If so, and if the carrier has covered the compensation, it shall be returned to him upon delivery of the load.

The carrier shall not be liable for natural losses or shrinkage.