The Convention on International Civil Aviation

The Convention on International Civil Aviation (Convention on International Civil Aviation), which will be called hereinafter the Chicago Convention, the legal basis of international civil aviation. It was signed by representatives of the Contracting States 52 (Contracting State) at the International Civil Aviation Conference held in Chicago (USA) in 1944, the Chicago Convention has successfully passed the test of time and today remains a reliable basis for the development and consistent functioning of the International Civil Aviation.

The main reasons that led to the need for the signing of the Chicago Convention, related to the evolution of the processes of development as the aviation industry, and international passenger and cargo traffic by various modes of transport. Largely particular manifestation of these evolutionary processes were due to the preparation and course of the Second World War, that actualized the problem of international air traffic.

By the beginning of the 40-ies of the XX century. In the group of industrialized countries of the world, air transport and aviation activity have reached a level where their further successful development and competing on international transport with other modes of transport became difficult without the unification and harmonization of the efforts of the states concerned. A wide network of international passenger and cargo air services was formed, which gave rise to many political, commercial and technical problems requiring a uniform and at the same time acceptable for most states decision in the interests of maintaining peace on Earth.

These problems were related to global issues, in particular, concerns about the possibility of legal and economic conflicts arising when aircraft crossed state borders in peacetime, observance of rights and duties (technical, commercial) in connection with flights of one country's armed forces within or through the territory of other countries , As well as private issues of international air services (eg air navigation services, many of which are located in sparsely populated areas). The possibilities of resolving these problems through agreements between air carriers or on the basis of separate interstate or bilateral agreements, for example, within the framework of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), one of the largest non-governmental organizations of the time, that is, outside the framework of comprehensive international Agreements at the state level have exhausted themselves. The demand for systemic organization of mutual relations in air transportation has become more acute, primarily in terms of distribution and consolidation of responsibility between participants in aviation activities, both at the interstate (international) and at the state level.

Thus, for the effective functioning of air transport, provision of conditions for its development and the realization of benefits in relation to other modes of transport has become a very urgent need to establish comprehensive guidelines and rules that would ensure:

• a sufficient level of consistency to regulate the emerging air transport relations between states;
• acceptable conditions for the feasibility of these principles and rules by a majority of States;
• safety, efficiency and regularity of air transport;
• conditions for sustainable and effective functioning, as well as the effective development and improvement of the international air transport.

For the orderly development of the GA and the principles of the Chicago Convention, in accordance with its provisions has been created a permanent body - the International Civil Aviation Organization (International Civil Aviation Organisation - ICAO). At the end of 2005 189 ratified the Chicago Convention states that are members of the ICAO.

Areas of international air transport are governed by the provisions of the Chicago Convention. Her 96 articles establish the privileges and obligations of all Contracting States.

Article 37 of the Chicago Convention provides for the acceptance by all signatory states of international Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). These standards form common (with varying degrees of detail) principles for the development of methods and procedures for the international and state regulation of air transport activities, and also structure acceptable uniformity in the construction of a system of responsibility for the provision and conduct of aviation activities at the international and national levels. In the practice of international regulation of civil aviation, the Standards and Recommended Practices are considered as integral parts of the Chicago Convention. The right to receive them is granted to the ICAO Council.

To make it convenient to use, SARPs are issued in the form of annexes to the Chicago Convention (Annexes to the Convention on International Civil Aviation). The current

18 Appendices cover key areas of activity of the international GA. Some of them (for example, Appendix 16) are adopted by many states as national standards.

The composition of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation:

• 1. Issuance of a certificate to the personnel (Personnel Licensing);
• 2. Rules of the Air;
• 3. Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation;
• 4. Aeronautical Charts;
• 5. Units of Measurement to be Used in Air and Ground Operations;
• 6. Operation of Aircraft;
• 7. National and registration marks of aircraft (Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks);
• 8. Airworthiness of Aircraft;
• 9. Facilitation;
• 10. Aviation telecommunications (Aeronautical Telecommunications);
• 11. Air Traffic Services (Air Traffic Services);
• 12. Search and Rescue (Search and Rescue);
• 13. Accident investigation (Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation);
• 14. Airfields (Aerodromes);
• 15. Aeronautical Information Services (Aeronautical Information Services);
• 16. Protection of the environment (Environmental Protection);
• 17. Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference (Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference);
• 18. The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air).

The material set out in the Annexes of the established structure. Each application consists of a preamble, definitions, Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), amendments, additions, notes, and applications.

Preface contains historical information and explanatory material relating to the application itself, together with the explanations concerning the other parts.

The definitions explain the terminology employed in the Annex that do not have accepted dictionary meanings and self-explanatory. Definitions not have independent status but is an essential part of every SARPs, in which the term is used (in other words, the content of the terms does not always have the property of "portability" between documents), as the change in the value of the term would affect the specification.

In addition publishes the differences between national regulations and the SARPs, notifications were sent to the ICAO. Addition is located at the end of the Annex to the Chicago Convention. For convenience, the first page of text supplements printed on paper red.

Appendices contain material grouped separately for convenience but forming part of the Annex.

Notes included in the text of the Annexes, where necessary, to give factual information or references to the relevant Annexes to the Chicago Convention, part of which they are not.

Applications SARPs determine the use of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention.

The most important part of the Annex to the Chicago Convention are SARPs. They are a requirement adopted by the ICAO Council, in accordance with the provisions of the Chicago Convention.

Standard is any requirement for physical and technical characteristics, configuration, material, personnel or procedures, the uniform application of which is necessary to ensure the safety or regularity of international air navigation and which will be observed by Contracting States under the Chicago Convention. This means that the Standard is a uniformly compliant requirement recognized as necessary to ensure the safety or regularity of international air navigation. According to the editorial practice adopted in ICAO, when the requirements are formulated in Russian in the Standard text, the verb is placed in the present tense of the indicative mood. Standards are printed in the text of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention in ordinary type.

Article 38 Chicago Convention requires that Contracting States notify ICAO of any differences between the systems of the national aviation regulations or operating practices and the International Standards (SARPs), contained in the Annexes to the Chicago Convention and any amendments thereto.

Recommended practice is any requirement for physical and technical characteristics, configuration, material, personnel or rules, the uniform application of which is recognized as desirable for the safety, regularity or efficiency of international air navigation and which Contracting States will seek to comply with under the Chicago Convention. This means that Recommended Practice is a requirement that is considered desirable, but not mandatory. According to the editorial practice adopted in ICAO, the auxiliary verbs "should" or "should" are used in the formulation of requirements in the Russian language in the text of the Recommended Practice. Recommended practice is printed in the text of the Annex to the Chicago Convention in italics, with the addition of the word "recommendation".

Notification of differences between national practices and Recommended Practices of ICAO is not required, but Contracting States to notify such differences in those cases where it is important for the safety of air navigation.

SARPs - one of the major technical achievements ICAO, which is the recognition by Contracting States of the need for a certain level of standardization to ensure the safety, efficiency and regularity of air transport. It is important to note that the current ICAO policies on newly introduced standards is realized as securing effective practice of testing their application in bilateral and (or) regional levels.

The Chicago Convention and SARPs essentially form the legal basis of the system of international regulation of the activity of GA defining the privileges and obligations of the Contracting States, the general principles, requirements and mechanisms (methods and procedures) to ensure fulfillment of obligations, privilege use and decision-making at the system of international regulation of the activity GA.

The provisions of the Chicago Convention applies only to civil VS1 (Article 3 Convention).

Article 1 the main principles of the Chicago Convention, the mutual recognition of full and exclusive sovereignty of each Contracting State over the airspace above its territory. However, Article 4 Chicago Convention provides an exception abuse GA and use it for any purpose inconsistent with the aims of the Convention.

Article 37 Chicago Convention provides for cooperation between the Contracting States in order to achieve the greatest possible uniformity in systems of national aviation regulations, standards and procedures that will facilitate international air navigation and to improve it.

The inconsistency of the national aviation regulations systems regarding the implementation of SARPs leads to high costs. Currently, about ten countries dominate the aviation industry. However, the existing conditions and peculiarities in them can not be considered representative of the whole world. For this reason, the ICAO, as an organization representing all states interested in the development of its aviation, is capable and should solve the problem of global harmonization of the systems of national Aviation Regulations. This will lead to lower costs and provide conditions for the safe, orderly and effective implementation of international air transport.

Chapter III (Article 17-21) of the Chicago Convention provides for mandatory registration of the sun, bear the nationality and registration marks, keeping the state Reestra2 civil aircraft and the rules of payment and exclude them from the state register, as well as

Row of messages to other Contracting States and ICAO for facilities and operation of the Sun, located in the State Register.

Chapter V of the Chicago Convention provides that every aircraft engaged in international air transport, is bound to have on board documents issued or rendered valid by the State, which is listed in the Register of the Armed Forces. Additional mandatory documents may be established by States on their own.

The SARPs introduced the concept of "Gosudarstvoregistratsii Sun", which is a key and conceptually necessary to describe the mechanisms for the resolution of issues arising in relations between the Contracting States in international air transport, including regulatory issues airworthiness and accident investigation (Article 26 the Chicago Convention) .

Article 39 the Chicago Convention provides that in the event of non-compliances SARPs on aircraft or any of its parts, as well as members of the flight crew, the list of such discrepancies is sure to be submitted or attached to the respective (located on board the aircraft) of certificates and licenses. Article 40 determines the need for restrictions on the participation of the Armed Forces in international air transport.

Article 68 Chicago Convention provides for the right of each Contracting State to allocate airfields and routes for international air navigation.

Article 69-76 Chicago Convention contain provisions pursuant to which the Council through ICAO may provide a solution to issues relating to the maintenance of the required level of air navigation facilities (including radio and meteorological services) in each of the Contracting States if they do not meet the requirements of safe, regular , efficient and economical operation of international air services.

Article 77 the Chicago Convention provides that operators engaged in international air transportation in each of the Contracting States, provided by the ICAO Council reports.

The SARPs also introduced the key concept of "State of the Operator", which is necessary to highlight the objects of regulation (including actors), under the jurisdiction of the Contracting States. This concept is closely related to the concept of "State of registration", in particular with regard to the transfer of functions and responsibilities for the maintenance of LH between the State of registration of the sun and the State of the Operator in case of lease, charter and interchange VS1.

Articles 5-7 Chicago Convention enshrined the fundamental issues relating to the exchange of rights between the Contracting States which, however, does not affect the exchange of commercial rights.

While at the Chicago International Conference on Aviation and achieved satisfactory to all the agreement on the exchange of traffic rights, but in her final act additionally included:

“Transit Agreement for International Air Traffic”, which defines the exchange of non-commercial rights in regular international air traffic on a multilateral basis and, in particular, the conditions for the Armed Forces any Contracting State to fly or to land for technical reasons, in the territory of any other Contracting State;

"The agreement on international air transport", which, among other things, establishes the conditions for operation of aircraft between the State of registration and any other Contracting State.

At present, the issues of the exchange of rights between the Contracting States have been properly developed. They are the regulation of: commercial rights ("freedom of the air"); Fair competition; Regulating the capacity of international air services; Multilateral mechanisms for establishing and maintaining aviation tariffs; Automated booking systems; Organization of joint operation and bulletins; Renting, chartering and exchanging aircraft; Transferring certain functions and responsibilities between the State of Registry and the State of the Operator in the event of the lease, chartering and exchange of aircraft; Aircraft noise; Registration of international agreements and treaties in ICAO; International airmail; Principles of irregular air transport.