If a traveller organises his trip for himself, it is clear that the risks involved with the trip shall predominantly be carried by the traveller himself. In the case of a tour operator to be involved, however, the question of how the risks shall be divided between the traveller and the tour operator in the case of the trip turning hazardous shall be resolved for the purpose of the legal order. Who is responsible for providing the traveller with sufficient information and how, in the case of a hazardous situation to occur, the responsibility and the costs for the transportation of the traveller back to his point of departure shall be divided?
In their latest Juridica (Estonian law journal) article, NOVE partner Urmas Volens and Maria Pihlak from Sorainen are looking for answers to exactly these kinds of questions. In the article the norms for package travel contracts contained in chapter 44 of the Law of Obligations Act are investigated and the risk distribution to occur with the trip turning hazardous according to the law applicable as well as to the judicial practice developed thereof are analysed. In 2016 the Supreme Court of Estonia gave an adjudication dealing with these questions in depth (RKTKo 3-2-1-75-16), the effects of which are investigated in this article more explicitly. The article also looks into the matter of what the legal situation will be as of July 1 of 2018, when the new directive of the European Parliament and Commission on packages and related services of tour operators must be implemented.
The article is available in Estonian on the webpage of the journal of Juridica.