NCJ Number
62236
Journal
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (1970) Pages: 60-80
Date Published
1979
Length
21 pages
Annotation
THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AGAINST AIRCRAFT HIJACKERS IS ADVOCATED IN THIS 1970 LAW COMMENTARY WHICH TRACES THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND EXTRADITION TREATIES.
Abstract
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECURITY PROCEDURES FOR KEEPING POTENTIAL HIJACKERS FROM BOARDING AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN A DIFFICULT TASK, AND THE DISABLING OF HIJACKERS ABOARD AN AIRCRAFT IS DANGEROUS. CONSEQUENTLY, THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH HIJACKING CAN BE SAFELY CURTAILED OR STOPPED IS THROUGH INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ON CRIMINAL PENALTIES TO BE APPLIED AGAINST THE HIJACKERS. ONLY WHEN MOST NATIONS PROHIBIT THE SEIZURE OF AIRCRAFT AND SHOW DETERMINATION IN PROSECUTING HIJACKERS WILL THE DANGER TO CIVIL AVIATION BE ABATED. WHEN THE HIJACKING OF COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CUBA FIRST BEGAN, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND U.S. LAW WERE EQUALLY INEFFECTIVE. ALTHOUGH THE CRIMES WERE CALLED 'AIR PIRACY,' THEY DID NOT MEET THE DEFINITION OF PIRACY CODIFIED BY THE GENEVA CONVENTION OF 1958. SUBSEQUENT INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS FAILED TO COVER THE SEIZURE OF AIRCRAFT BY PASSENGERS, AND SOME COUNTRIES HAVE REFUSED TO EXTRADITE HIJACKERS WHO ARRIVE IN THEIR JURISDICTIONS. NEVERTHELESS, MULTISTATE AND INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES CONCERNING THE GRANTING OF POLITICAL ASYLUM, THE RECOGNITION OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, AND THE EXTRADITION OF CRIMINAL COULD OPERATE IN THE INTEREST OF MOST NATIONS. BOYCOTTS AGAINST COUNTRIES WHICH PROVIDE SANCTUARY TO HIJACKERS HAVE BEEN IMPOSED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIRLINE PILOTS' ASSOCIATIONS. INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES MAY CONSIDER USING ECONOMIC REPRISALS IN PROPORTION TO THE HARM CAUSED BY THE PROVISION OF SANCTUARY. HOWEVER, UNILATERAL ACTIONS WOULD NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE AS ORGANIZED RESPONSES TO HIJACKING. FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)