Page 77 - Law of Peace, Volume ,

Pam 27-161-1

committed on board aircraft registered in such State. sary to establish its jurisdiction over the offence and any other act of
3. This Convention does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction exer- violence against passengers or crew committed by the alleged offender
cised in accordance with national law. in connection with the offence, in the following cases:
Article 4 (a) when the offence is committed on board an aircraft registered
A Contracting State which is not the State of registration may not in- in that State;
terfere with an aircraft in flight in order to exercise its criminal jurisdic- (b) when the aircraft on board which the offence is committed
tion over an offence committed on board except in the following cases: lands in its temtory with the alleged offender still on board;
(a) the offence has effect on the temtory of such State; (c) when the offence is committed on board an aircraft leased with-
(b) the offence has been committed by or against a national or per- out crew to a lessee who has his principal place of business or, if the
manent resident of such State; lessee has no such place of business, his permanent residence, in
(c) the offence is against the security of such State; that State.
(d) the offence consists of a breach of any rules or regulations relat- 2. Each Contracting State shall likewise take such measures as may
ing to the flight or manoeuvre of aircraft in force in such State; be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the offence in the case
(e) the exercise of jurisdiction is necessary to ensure the observance where the alleged offender is present in its temtory and it does not ex-
of any obligation of such State under a multilateral international tradite him pursuant to Article 8 to any of the States mentioned in para-
agreement. graph 1 of this Article.
3. This Convention does not exclude any criminal jurisdiction exer-
The Convention deals in detail with the powers of the cised in accordance with national law.
aircraft commander to "off-load" and to restrain offend- Article 7
ers or suspected offenders. Article 11 deals specifically The Contracting State in the territory of which the alleged offender is
with hijacking: found shall, if it does not extradite him, be obliged, without exception
whatsoever and whether or not the offence was committed in its temto-
Article 11
1. When a person on board has unlawfully committed by force or ry, to submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of
threat thereof an act of interference, seizure, or other wrongful exercise prosecution.
of control of an aircraft in flight or when such an act is about to be com- Those authorities shall take their decision in the same manner as in
mitted, Contracting States shall take all appropriate measures to restore the case of any ordinary offence of a serious nature under the law of that
control of the aircraft to its lawful commander or to preserve his control State.
of the aircraft. Article 8
2. In the cases contemplated in the preceding paragraph, the Con- 1. The offence shall be deemed to be included as an extraditable of-
tracting State in which the aircraft lands shall permit its passengers and fence in any extradition treaty existing between Contracting States.
crew to continue their journey as soon as practicable, and shall return Contracting States undertake to include the offence as an extraditable
the aircraft and its cargo to the persons lawfully entitled to possession. offense in every extradition treaty to be concluded between them.
The provision on extradition (Article 16) is relatively weak: 2. Ifa Contracting State which makes extradition conditional on the
1. Offences committed on aircraft registered in a Contracting State existence of a treaty receives a request for extradition from another
shall be treated, for the purpose of extradition, as if they had been com- Contracting State with which it has no extradition treaty, it may as its op-
mitted not only in the place in which they have occurred but also in the tion consider this Convention as the legal basis for extradition in respect
temtory of the State of registration of the aircraft. of the offence. Extradition shall be subject to the other conditions pro-
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, vided by the law of the requested State.
nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to create an obligation to 3. Contracting States which do not make extradition conditional on
grant extradition. the existence of a treaty shall recognize the offence as an extraditable of-
fence between themselves subject to the conditions provided by the law
(2) The 1970 Hague Convention. 159 The Hague of the requested State.
Convention was a product of the work of the ICAO. It was 4. The offence shall be treated, for the purpose of extradition be-
approved at a diplomatic conference at The Hague in tween Contracting States, as if it had been committed not only in the
1970 and entered into force for the United States on Octo- place in which it occurred but also in the territories of the States required
ber 14, 1971. Fifty-nine states were parties to the Con- to establish their jurisdiction in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1.
vention on January 1, 1975. In contrast to the Tokyo (3) U. S. legislation relevant to the 1970 Hague
Convention, the Hague Convention is directed narrowly Convention follows:
to the question of hijaclung. Its major provisions create U.S. FEDERAL A VIA TION ACT OF 1958 (AS AMENDED),
universal jurisdiction for the prosecution of hijackers and SECTION 902
impose an obligation on the states either to prosecute the 75 Stat. 466 (1961), 49 U.S.C.A. 5 1472
hijacker or to extradite him: Title 49, Section 1301.
Article 1 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires-
Any person who on board an aircraft in flight: .. . .
(a) unlawfully, by force or threat thereof, or by any other form of (32) The term "special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States" in-
intimidation, seizes, or exercises control of, that aircraft, or at- cludes the following aircraft while in flight-
tempts to perform any such act, or (a) civil aircraft of the United States;
(b) is an accomplice of a person who performs or attempts to per- (b) aircraft of the national defense forces of the United States; and
form any such act (c) any other aircraft-
commits an offence (hereinafter referred to as "the offence"). (i) within the United States, or
(ii) outside the United States which has its next
Article 4
1. Each Contracting State shall take such measures as may be neces- scheduled destination or last point of departure in the United States
provided that in either case it next actually lands in the United
159. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of States. For the purpose of this def~tion,an aircraft is considered to
Aircraft, T.I.A.S. 7192 (Documentary Supplement). be in flight from the moment when power is applied for the purpose