OVERVIEW AND STATUS OF RATIFICATION OF KEY TREATIES

Transcription

1 OVERVIEW AND STATUS OF RATIFICATION OF KEY TREATIES Dr. Yaw Nyampong Legal Officer, ICAO ICAO Legal Seminar Incheon, May

2 Overview of Presentation 1. Overview and status of ratification of key treaties 2. Ratification process of multilateral air law instruments with ICAO 2

3 Ratification of air law instruments ICAO is the Depositary of almost 40 international air law treaties Functions of a Depositary (keeping custody of the original text; receiving signatures; receiving and examining instruments of ratification; informing States upon the entry into force of a treaty, etc.) Promotion of Montreal Convention of 1999, Cape Town Instruments of 2001, Beijing Instruments of 2010, Montréal Protocol of 2014 and 2016 Protocols amending Articles 50(a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention 3

4 Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, done at Montreal on 28 May 1999 Assembly Resolution A39-9: Promotion of the Montréal Convention of 1999 urging all States to ratify this Convention As of 10 May 2018, ratified by 131 Member States, including by 18 States from the Asia-Pacific Region 4

5 Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment, both signed at Cape Town on 16 November 2001 By Resolution A39-11, Appendix C, the Assembly urges all States that have not done so to ratify these instruments As of 10 May 2018, the Cape Town Convention and the Aircraft Protocol have been ratified by 72 Member States, including 15 States from the Asia-Pacific region Depositary = UNIDROIT 5

6 Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation and the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, both done at Beijing on 10 September 2010 Assembly Resolution A39-10: Promotion of the Beijing Convention and the Beijing Protocol of 2010, urging all States to sign and ratify these treaties As of 10 May 2018, 21 and 22 States have ratified the Beijing Convention and Beijing Protocol 2010 respectively; one State from the Asia-Pacific region has ratified both treaties The Beijing Protocol entered into force on 1 January

7 Protocol to Amend the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, done at Montréal on 4 April 2014 By Resolution A39-11, Appendix C, the Assembly urges all States that have not done so to ratify this Protocol As of 10 May 2018, the Protocol has been ratified by 12 States; not ratified by any State from the Asia-Pacific region 7

8 2016 Protocols amending Articles 50(a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention The 39th Session of the Assembly approved amendments to Articles 50 (a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention The amendment to Article 50 (a) increases the membership of the Council from 36 to 40, while the amendment to Article 56 increases the membership of the Air Navigation Commission from 19 to 21 As of 10 May 2018, 15 States have ratified these two Protocols; 128 ratifications needed for entry into force 8

9 Main Bodies of ICAO There are currently 7 States from the Asia- Pacific region elected on the Council of ICAO (Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore) None of the States from the Asia-Pacific region have ratified so far the Protocols to amend Articles 50(a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention By Resolutions A39-5 and A39-7, the Assembly recommends to all States to ratify most urgently these Protocols 9

10 Deposit of an instrument of ratification 1. In order to ratify/accede to a treaty, a State must deposit an instrument of ratification/accession in compliance with the relevant provisions of the treaty concerned 2. The instrument must be signed by the proper authority either by the Head of State, the Head of Government, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or a person exercising, ad interim, the power of one of the above authorities 3. The instrument of ratification/accession must clearly identify the treaty (exact title, date and place) concerned and the type of action being taken by the Sate in accordance with the provisions of the treaty (e.g. ratification, acceptance, approval, accession, consent to be bound, etc.) 10

11 Deposit of an instrument of ratification 11

12 Deposit of an instrument of ratification Common mistakes: The title of the treaty The date of signature of the treaty The place of signature of the instrument is missing The treaty has not been signed by the proper authority 12

13 Deposit of an instrument of ratification The title of the treaty The date of signature of the treaty The place of signature of the instrument of ratification The instrument is signed by the proper authority The instrument includes a declaration, if mandatory 13

14 ICAO Treaty Collection Administrative packages providing guidelines for the ratification of, or accession to, international air law instruments in order to assist States in the ratification process Lists of Parties to all international air law instruments Forms indicating the current status of individual ICAO Member States with respect to International air law instruments 14

15 For any questions with respect to the ratification process with ICAO please do not hesitate to contact LEB s: - treaty@icao.int - leb@icao.int 15

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