History Of Air Law

Chapter 1.

THE HISTORY OF AVIATION LAW AND THE CHICAGO CONVENTION

1944

Introduction Today, decisions concerning international civil aviation are taken by the

member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The JAR Aviation Law

exam follows the Annexes and other documents of ICAO. These notes are designed to follow

the JAR syllabus and are a precis of all of the reference material. The language may be

difficult to follow because of the use made of the words SHALL and SHOULD. SHALL refers

to Standards; SHOULD refers to recommended practices. These terms are explained in

greater detail later.

1919 Aeronautical Commission Of the Paris Peace Conference This commission

drafted legislation concerning International Air Navigation. The convention recognized that

every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory, and

provided for the innocent passage of civil aircraft of other contracting states over that state's

territory. It was the recommendations made by this conference that established the need for

an international body to regulate civil aviation and led to the formation of the International

Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN).

1926 Ibero-American Congress, Madrid Essentially identical to the Paris convention

the aim of this congress was to link Spain and the Latin American states into an organization

similar to ICAN.

1928 Pan-American Convention of Commercial Aviation, Havana Specifically tailored

for the needs of the states of the Western Hemisphere. The drafting of the Havana convention

envisaged the western and eastern hemispheres as separate distinct entities with no need for

commonality. Lindbergh completed the first non-stop solo Atlantic flight on 20 May 1927. The

day that the Havana Convention was ratified. This convention weakened the status of ICAN

which was eventually superseded by ICAO.

1929 Warsaw Convention Of The Unification Of Certain Rules To International Carriage

By Air A convention to which 108 are parties, it is one of the most widely accepted

unification of private law. It unifies legislation on:

�� Documentation on the carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo.

�� The financial liability of airlines.

�� The question of jurisdiction, by defining the courts before which any action may

be brought.

This convention was amended and simplified by the 1955 Hague Protocol. The Montreal

Agreement of 1966 further amended the liability of airlines.

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1944 CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL AVIATION (THE CHICAGO CONVENTION)

(The text used to explain the Articles of the Chicago Convention is little changed from

the original, as the meaning may be lost if simplified)

PART I - AIR NAVIGATION

Chapter I - General Principles And Application Of The Convention

Article 1- Sovereignty The Contracting States recognize that every State has complete and

exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.

Article 2 Ð'- Territory For the purposes of this convention the territory of a State shall be

deemed to be the land areas and territorial waters adjacent thereto under the sovereignty,

suzerainty, protection or mandate of such a State.

Article 3 - Civil and State Aircraft This convention shall be applicable only to civil

aircraft, and shall not be applicable to State aircraft:

�� Aircraft used in military, customs and police services shall be deemed to be State

aircraft

�� No State aircraft of a Contracting State shall fly over the territory of another State

or land without authorization by special agreement or otherwise.

�� The Contracting States undertake, when issuing regulations for their State

aircraft, that they will have due regard for the safety of navigation of civil aircraft

Article 4 - Misuse of Civil Aircraft Each Contracting State agrees not to use civil

aviation for any purpose inconsistent with the aims of this convention.

Chapter II - Flight Over Territory of Contracting States

Article 5 - Right of Non-Scheduled Aircraft Each Contracting State agrees that all

aircraft of other Contracting States, not engaged in scheduled international air services shall

have the right to make flights into or transit non-stop across its territory and to make stops for

non-traffic purposes without the necessity of obtaining prior permission. This is subject to the

right of the state flown over which may require the aircraft to land. Each Contracting State

reserves the right, for reasons of safety of flight, to require aircraft desiring to proceed over

regions