Convention for the Supression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation in United States

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

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 26 January 1973

The States Parties to the Convention

Considering that unlawful acts against the safety of civil aviation
jeopardize the safety of persons and property, seriously affect the
operation of air services, and undermine the confidence of the peoples of
the world in the safety of civil aviation;

Considering that the occurrence of such acts is a matter of grave concern;

Considering that, for the purpose of deterring such acts, there is an
urgent need to provide appropriate measures for punishment of offenders;

Have agreed as follows:

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.

Article 7

The Contracting State in the territory of which the alleged offender is
found shall, if it does not extradite him, be obliged, without exception
whatsoever and whether or not the offence was committed in its territory,
to submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of
prosecution. Those authorities shall take their decision in the same manner
as in the case of any ordinary offence of a serious nature under the law of
that State.

Article 8

1. The offences shall be deemed to be included as extraditable offences in
any extradition treaty existing between Contracting States. Contracting
States undertake to include the offences as extraditable offences in every
extradition treaty to be concluded between them.

2. If a Contracting State which makes extradition conditional on the
existence of a treaty receives a request for extradition from another
Contracting State with which it has no extradition treaty, it may at its
option consider this Convention as the legal basis for extradition in
respect of the offences. Extradition shall be subject to the other
conditions provided by the law of the requested State.

3. Contracting States which do not make extradition conditional on the
existence of a treaty shall recognize the offences as extraditable offences
between themselves subject to the conditions provided by the law of the
requested State.

4. Each of the offences shall be treated, for the purpose of extradition
between Contracting States, as if it had been committed not only in the
place in which it occurred but also in the territories of the States
required to establish their jurisdiction in accordance with Article 5,
paragraph 1 (b), (c) and (d).

Article 9

The Contracting States which establish joint air transport operating
organizations or international operating agencies, which operate aircraft
which are subject to joint or international registration shall, by
appropriate means, designate for each aircraft the State among them which
shall exercise the jurisdiction and have the attributes of the State of
registration for the purpose of this Convention and shall give notice
thereof to the International Civil Aviation Organization which shall
communicate the notice to all States Parties to this Convention.

Article 10

1. Contracting States shall, in accordance with international and national
law, endeavour to take all practicable measure for the purpose of
preventing the offences mentioned in Article 1.

2. When, due to the commission of one of the offences mentioned in Article
1, a flight has been delayed or interrupted, any Contracting State in whose
territory the aircraft or passengers or crew are present shall facilitate
the continuation of the journey of the passengers and crew as soon as
practicable, and shall without delay return the aircraft and its cargo to
the persons lawfully entitled to possession.

Article 11

1. Contracting States shall afford one another the greatest measure of
assistance in connection with criminal proceedings brought in respect of
the offences. The law of the State requested shall apply in all cases.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not affect
obligations under any other treaty, bilateral or multilateral, which
governs or will govern, in whole or in part, mutual assistance in criminal
matters.

Article 12

Any Contracting State having reason to believe that one of the offences
mentioned in Article 1 will be committed shall, in accordance with its
national law, furnish any relevant information in its possession to those
States which it believes would be the States mentioned in Article 5,
paragraph 1.

Article 13

Each Contracting State shall in accordance with its national law report to
the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization as promptly as
possible any relevant information in its possession concerning:

(a) the circumstances of the offence;
(b) the action taken pursuant to Article 10, paragraph 2;
(c) the measures taken in relation to the offender or the alleged
offender and, in particular, the results of any extradition
proceedings or other legal proceedings.

Article 14

1. Any dispute between two or more Contracting States concerning the
interpretation or application of this Convention which cannot be settled
through negotiation, shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to
arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for
arbitration the Parties are unable to agree on the organization of the
arbitration, any one of those Parties may refer the dispute to the
International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the Statute of
the Court.

2. Each State may at the time of signature or ratification of this
Convention or accession thereto, declare that it does not consider itself
bound by the preceding paragraph. The other Contracting States shall not be
bound by the preceding paragraph with respect to any Contracting State
having made such a reservation.

3. Any Contracting State having made a reservation in accordance with the
preceding paragraph may at any time withdraw this reservation by
notification to the Depositary Governments.

Article 15

1. This Convention shall be open for signature at Montreal on 23 September
1971, by States participating in the International Conference on Air Law
held at Montreal from 8 to 23 September 1971 (hereinafter referred to as
the Montreal Conference). After 10 October 1971, the Convention shall be
open to all States for signature in Moscow, London and Washington. Any
State which does not sign this Convention before its entry into force in
accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article may accede to it at any time.

2. This Convention shall be subject to ratification by the signatory
States. Instruments of ratification and instruments of accession shall be
deposited with the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United
States of America, which are hereby designated the Depositary Governments.

3. This Convention shall enter into force thirty days following the date of
the deposit of instruments of ratification by ten States signatory to this
Convention which participated in the Montreal Conference.

4. For other States, this Convention shall enter into force on the date of
entry into force of this Convention in accordance with paragraph 3 of this
Article, or thirty days following the date of deposit of their instruments
of ratification or accession, whichever is later.

5. The Depositary Governments shall promptly inform all signatory and
acceding States of the date of each signature, the date of deposit of each
instrument of ratification or accession, the date of entry into force of
this Convention, and other notices.

6. As soon as this Convention comes into force, it shall be registered by
the Depositary Governments pursuant to Article 102 of the Convention on
International Civil Aviation (Chicago, 1944).

Article 16

1. Any Contracting State may denounce this Convention by written
notification to the Depositary Governments.

2. Denunciation shall take effect six months following the date on which
notification is received by the Depositary Governments.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly authorized
thereto by their Governments, have signed this Convention.

DONE at Montreal, this twenty-third day of September, one thousand nine
hundred and seventy-one, in three originals, each being drawn up in four
authentic texts in the English, French, Russian and Spanish languages.