Convention for the Supression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation

Article 1

1. Any person commits an offence if he unlawfully and intentionally:

(a) performs an act of violence against a person on board an aircraft in
flight if that act is likely to endanger the safety of that aircraft;
or
(b) destroys an aircraft in service or causes damage to such an aircraft
which renders it incapable of flight or which is likely to endanger
its safety in flight; or
(c) places or causes to be placed on an aircraft in service, by any means
whatsoever, a device or substance which is likely to destroy that
aircraft, or to cause damage to it which renders it incapable of
flight, or to cause damage to it which is likely to endanger its
safety in flight; or
(d) destroys or damages air navigation facilities or interferes with
their operation, if any such act is likely to endanger the safety of
aircraft in flight; or
(e) communicates information which he knows to be false, thereby
endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight.

2. Any person also commits an offence if he:
(a) attempts to commit any of the offences mentioned in paragraph 1 of
this Article; or
(b) is an accomplice of a person who commits or attempts to commit any
such offence.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Convention:

(a) an aircraft is considered to be in flight at any time from the moment
when all its external doors are closed following embarkation until
the moment when any such door is opened for disembarkation; in the
case of a forced landing, the flight shall be deemed to continue
until the competent authorities take over the responsibility for the
aircraft and for persons and property on board;
(b) an aircraft is considered to be in service from the beginning of the
preflight preparation of the aircraft by ground personnel or by the
crew for a specific flight until twenty-four hours after any landing;
the period of service shall, in any event, extend for the entire
period during which the aircraft is in flight as defined in paragraph
(a) of this Article.

Article 3

Each Contracting State undertakes to make the offences mentioned in Article
1 punishable by severe penalties.

Article 4

1. This Convention shall not apply to aircraft used in military, customs or
police services.

2. In the cases contemplated in subparagraphs (a), (b), (c) and (e) of
paragraph 1 of Article 1, this Convention shall apply, irrespective of
whether the aircraft is engaged in an international or domestic flight,
only if:

(a) the place of take-off or landing, actual or intended, of the aircraft
is situated outside the territory of the State of registration of
that aircraft; or
(b) the offence is committed in the territory of a State other than the
State of registration of the aircraft.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2 of this Article, in the cases contemplated
in subparagraphs (a), (b), (c) and (e) of paragraph 1 of Article 1, this
Convention shall also apply if the offender or the alleged offender is
found in the territory of a State other than the State of registration of
the aircraft.

4. With respect to the States mentioned in Article 9 and in the cases
mentioned in subparagraphs (a), (b), (c) and (e) of paragraph 1 of Article
1, this Convention shall not apply if the places referred to in
subparagraph (a) of paragraph 2 of this Article are situated within the
territory of the same State where that State is one of those referred to in
Article 9, unless the offence is committed or the offender or alleged
offender is found in the territory of a State other than that State.

5. In the cases contemplated in subparagraph (d) of paragraph 1 of Article
1, this Convention shall apply only if the air navigation facilities are
used in international air navigation.

6. The provisions of paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article shall also
apply in the cases contemplated in paragraph 2 of Article 1.

Article 5

1. Each Contracting State shall take such measures as may be necessary to
establish its jurisdiction over the offences in the following cases:

(a) when the offence is committed in the territory of that State;
(b) when the offence is committed against or on board an aircraft
registered in that State;
(c) when the aircraft on board which the offence is committed lands in
its territory with the alleged offender still on board;
(d) when the offence is committed against or on board an aircraft leased
without crew to a lessee who has his principal place of business or,
if the lessee has no such place of business, his permanent residence,
in that State.

2. Each Contracting State shall likewise take such measures as may be
necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the offences mentioned in
Article 1, paragraph 1 (a), (b) and (c), and in Article 1, paragraph 2, in
so far as that paragraph relates to those offences, in the case where the
alleged offender is present in its territory and it does not extradite him
pursuant to Article 8 to any of the States mentioned in paragraph 1 of this
Article.

3. This Convention does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction exercised in
accordance with national law.

Article 6

1. Upon being satisfied that the circumstances so warrant, any Contracting
State in the territory of which the offender or the alleged offender is
present, shall take him into custody or take other measures to ensure his
presence. The custody and other measures shall be as provided in the law of
that State but may only be continued for such time as is necessary to
enable any criminal or extradition proceedings to be instituted.

2. Such State shall immediately make a preliminary enquiry into the facts.

3. Any person in custody pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall be
assisted in communicating immediately with the nearest appropriate
representative of the State of which he is a national.

4. When a State, pursuant to this Article, has taken a person into custody,
it shall immediately notify the States mentioned in Article 5, paragraph 1,
the State of nationality of the detained person and, if it considers it
advisable, any other interested State of the fact that such person is in
custody and of the circumstances which warrant his detention. The State
which makes the preliminary enquiry contemplated in paragraph 2 of this
Article shall promptly report its findings to the said States and shall
indicate whether it intends to exercise jurisdiction.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention for the Supression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation 2.