On 31 August 2015 a traveller booked an air ticket from Freetown to Tel Aviv. The airline mis-tagged his luggage which was lost en route. He bought replacement clothing in Tel Aviv during his stay from 9 to 21 September 2015.

The traveller sued for general and special damages in the High Court of Sierra Leone. The court found that the Warsaw Convention 1929 had been given statutory force in Sierra Leone in 1968 and so strict liability applied.

The plaintiff claimed (inter alia) special damages in the form of the cost of replacing clothing and personal effects lost with his luggage.  He particularised his loss at $500 USD.  He was not able to produce receipts or other evidence.  The defendant argued that absence such proof the claim should be rejected, citing Jaber v Basma (1952) 14 WACA 140.  The Court disagreed:

[It] has been proved that the Plaintiff lost his luggage whilst in the custody of the Defendant and that he stayed in Tel Aviv for a period of 12-13 days without receiving it. In such a situation one need not be a magician to conjure that the Plaintiff would need to buy clothes and related items for his daily use. … Counsel for the Defendant has argued that since the loss had not been specifically proved, the claim must not be countenanced by this Court. My response to that submission is to ask whether it would serve the interest of justice to do so? It has not been disputed that the Plaintiff stayed in Tel Aviv for 12-13 days without his luggage and as such the Plaintiff must have procured some clothes to use. It will be most unreasonable to believe that he used the clothes he traveled in for that period. In the circumstance, I hold that the Plaintiff is entitled to special damages based on the special circumstances of this particular case.

Twenty-five per cent interest was ordered to be paid on the special damages from from 10 September 2013 to the date of judgment.

Nicol v Air Maroc (Koroma J, High Court of Sierra Leone, 10 October 2015, unreported)