Safety of international civil aviation.

  • Author: UN General Assembly (32nd sess. : 1977)
  • Document source:
  • Date:
    3 November 1977

32. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE SPECIAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE
8. Safety of international civil aviation

The General Assembly, Recognizing that the orderly functioning of international civil air travel under conditions guaranteeing the safety of its operations is in the interest of all peoples and promotes and preserves friendly relations among States, Recalling its resolution 2645 (XXV) of 25 November 1970, in which it recognized that acts of aerial hijacking or other wrongful interference with civil air travel jeopardize the lives and safety of passengers and crew and constitute a violation of their human rights, Recalling also its resolution 2551 (XXIV) of 12 December 1969 as well as Security Council resolution 286 (1970) of 9 September 1970 and the Council's decision of 20 June 1972,[1]

1. Reiterates and reaffirms its condemnation of acts of aerial hijacking or other interference with civil air travel through the threat or use of force, and all acts of violence which may be directed against passengers, crew and aircraft, whether committed by individuals or States;

2. Calls upon all States to take all necessary steps, taking into account the relevant recommendations of the United Nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization, to prevent acts of the nature referred to in paragraph 1 above, including the improvement of security arrangements at airports or by airlines as well as the exchange of relevant information, and to this end to take joint and separate action, subject to respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and for the relevant United Nations declarations, covenants and resolutions and without prejudice to the sovereignty or territorial integrity of any State, in co-operation with the United Nations and the International Civil Aviation Organization, to ensure that passengers, crew and aircraft engaged in civil aviation are not used as a means of extorting advantage of any kind;

3. Appeals to all States which have not yet become parties to the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963,[2] the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, signed at The Hague on 16 December 1970,[3] and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on 23 September 1971,[4] to give urgent consideration to ratifying or acceding to those conventions;

4. Calls upon the International Civil Aviation Organization to undertake urgently further efforts with a view to ensuring the security of air travel and preventing the recurrence of acts of the nature referred to in paragraph 1 above, including the reinforcement of annex 17[5] to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944;[6]

5. Appeals to all Governments to make serious studies of the abnormal situation related to hijacking.

56th plenary meeting
3 November


[1] Official Records of the Security Council, Twenty-seventh Year, Supplement for April, May and June 1972, document S/10705. [2] United Nations, Treaty Series, Vol. 704, No. 10106. [3] United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, Vol. 22, part 2 (1971), p. 1644. [4] Ibid., Vol. 24, part 1 (1973), p. 568. [5] See International Standards and Recommended Practices: Security-Safeguarding international civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference (International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal, August 1974). This first edition of annex 17 was adopted by the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization on 22 March 1974. [6] United Nations, Treaty Series, Vol. 15, No. 102.
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