Negative Declaratory Relief

Messier-Dowty Ltd and another v Sabena Sa and others (CA TLR 14 March)

An Airbus aircraft owned by Sabena crashed at Brussels Airport in August 1998. It was thought that the landing gear, designed and manufactured by Dowty, was the cause of the accident. The aircraft was supplied to Sabena, a Belgian company, under a contract governed by French law. Dowty sought a declaration that it was not liable to Sabena or to the other parties to the contract. Sabena submitted that Dowty had no cause of action against it and therefore the court should refuse to entertain its claim for a declaration of non-liability.