Cite as: 525 U. S. 155 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
n. 7.10 The parties do not dispute that the episode-in-suit occurred in international transportation in the course of embarking.
Our inquiry begins with the text of Article 24, which prescribes the exclusivity of the Convention's provisions for air carrier liability. "[I]t is our responsibility to give the specific words of the treaty a meaning consistent with the shared expectations of the contracting parties." Saks, 470 U. S., at 399. "Because a treaty ratified by the United States is not only the law of this land, see U. S. Const., Art. II, § 2, but also an agreement among sovereign powers, we have traditionally considered as aids to its interpretation the negotiating and drafting history (travaux préparatoires) and the postratification understanding of the contracting parties." Zicherman, 516 U. S., at 226.
Article 24 provides that "cases covered by article 17"—or in the governing French text, "les cas prévus à l'article 17" 11—may "only be brought subject to the conditions and
10 In the lower courts, Tseng urged that Article 25 took her case outside the Convention's limits on liability. Article 25, now altered by Montreal Protocol No. 4, concerned damage caused by "wilful misconduct." 49 Stat. 3020. On that matter, the District Court found "no evidence and no basis for inferring that [the selection of Tseng to be searched] was anything more than a mistake. Even if such a mistake can be characterized as misconduct," the District Court added, "there is no basis for inferring that it was wilful." 919 F. Supp., at 158. The Court of Appeals left the District Court's finding on the absence of "wilful misconduct" undisturbed. See 122 F. 3d, at 104. Tseng's brief in opposition to certiorari did not cite Article 25. We agree with the United States, as amicus curiae, that Tseng has not preserved any argument putting Article 25 at issue in this Court. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 18, n. 10.
11 The french text of Article 24 reads: "(1) Dans les cas prévus aux articles 18 et 19 toute action en responsabilité, à quelque titre que ce soit, ne peut être exercée que dans les conditions et limites prévues par la présente Convention.
"(2) Dans les cas prévus à l'article 17, s'appliquent également les dispositions de l'alinéa précédent, sans préjudice de la détermination des personnes qui ont le droit d'agir et de leurs droits respectifs." 49 Stat. 3006.
Literally translated, "les cas prévus à l'article 17" means "the cases anticipated by Article 17," see The New Cassell's French Dictionary 132,
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