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Railway accidents and civil liability - Contractual status of UIC rules and applicability of the liability limits set out therein – Cass. Com. 10 December 2025, no 24-15.018
Railway accidents and civil liability - Contractual status of UIC rules and applicability of the liability limits set out therein – Cass. Com. 10 December 2025, no 24-15.018
SNCF Voyageurs and Hexafret (the successors in law to SNCF Mobilités) appealed against a decision by the Paris Court of Appeal of 8 February 2024 in a dispute between them and Foyer Assurances, the Luxembourg National Railways (CFL), and Allianz Belgium.
The dispute concerned a collision on 11 October 2006 between a CFL passenger train and an SNCF freight train in Zoufftgen (France), which resulted in six deaths and damage to property. On 5 March 2007, SNCF and Foyer Assurances (the insurance company managing the claim for CFL) signed a provisional agreement for the allocation of compensation to victims, with no party acknowledging liability. An earlier implementing agreement (18 October 2005) between SNCF and CFL provided that cooperation between the two companies was governed by UIC (International Union of Railways) Leaflet 471-1.
The question at issue was the legal status of UIC Leaflet 471-1 and its application in the final allocation of damages, in particular in cases of gross or intentional negligence.
The Court of Appeal considered the leaflet to have regulatory rather than contractual status; it was thus mandatory for all UIC members, and precluded any consideration of fault or negligence, irrespective how serious. The Court thus ordered SNCF to bear the final cost of all damages.
In its ruling of 10 December 2025, the French Cour de cassation (Court of Final Appeal) partially overturned the appeal court’s decision on two points:
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It considered that the Court of Appeal had not drawn the correct legal conclusions from its observations, since the mandatory nature of UIC leaflets stemmed from UIC members’ desire to adopt them, thus making them contractual in nature (infringement of the former article 1134 of the French Civil Code).
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As an industry body furthering cooperation between railways and governed by private law, the International Union of Railways (UIC) draws up shared rules intended to facilitate international rail traffic in the form of leaflets, one of which is UIC Leaflet 471-1. These documents are industry standards that are mandatory if approved by more than 4/5 of the votes cast by the members consulted. As such, the mandatory nature of UIC leaflets stems from members’ desire to adopt them, thus making them contractual in nature.
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The Court of Final Appeal recalled that no derogation, even by mutual agreement, is possible from laws governing public order and that agreements may not limit the consequences of liability in cases of gross or intentional negligence (infringement of articles 6, 1134 and 1150 of the French Civil Code in the wording prior to the decree of 10 February 2016).
The case is remitted to the Paris Court of Appeal in a different composition.
Sources:
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Ruling of Cour de cassation, Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamber, 10 December 2025, Case no V 24-15.018 – link here
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Decision of Paris Court of Appeal of 8 February 2024, No RG 19/17128 – link here