Different laws around the world have historically affected payouts following air disasters.
Zhu Ziqin, a professor from China University of Political Science and Law, says an international treaty known as the Montreal Convention stipulates that airline must pay relatives of each deceased passenger an initial sum of around 110 thousand US dollars.
But as she explains, differences in law lead to different final payouts, even among families of victims from the same crash.
"Even though passengers from different countries are in the same plane, their compensation for loss of life is vastly different, mostly due to different measuring standards among different nations. The payments would also be varied among different people. Some people earn more money, some earn less. Thus, their families suffer from different amounts of financial loss. This is a common principle."
Experts say domestic legal teams are closely negotiating with the airline company.Niu Linna is one of the lawyers.
"we've started to accept families' authorizations months ago. The compensation-seeking process is now underway. Right now, some of the relatives are fulfilling legal formalities, some are doing notarization, and some have already started the evidence notarizing process. The MH370 air crash case is very rare historically, so the exact compensation details will also be different from past cases. "
When it comes to the specific amount of payment, Professor Zhu suggests that there should not be exact numbers offered to avoid affecting the negotiating progress.
"We should not cite a clear amount, should not limit the compensation payment amount. I myself still suggest the victims' relatives get proper legal help. Lawyers are more experienced on searching for useful evidence."
Thursday, a group of 16 Chinese relatives of the MH370 passengers protested how the incident has been handled by the Malaysian authorities, and continued to question their lack of evidence to make a conclusion about the fate of the flight.
For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.
