by D.H.N. Johnson* Over the last decade few matters having some connexion with international law have aroused public interest to the same extent as "hijacking", "aerial piracy", "unlawful seizure of aircraft", "unlawful interference with aircraft"--call it what you will. Unfortunately, few matters have also contributed to the same extent to create in the public mind a sense of disillusion with international law arising from its apparent inability to suppress an unprecedented menace to freedom of communication. In 1944 the governments that concluded the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation referred in their preamble of that instrument to their "having agreed on certain principles and arrangements in order that international civil aviation may be developed in a safe and orderly manner". What is now at issue is the extent to which this important obligation has been carried out. Few people are more qualified to examine this question than the author of this work. A lecturer in international law at the University of Baghdad, with a background of postgraduate studies in London and in Cambridge, also having some experience as an international civil servant, Dr. Sami Shubber is well aware of the political, practical and legal obstacles that have prevented the international community from living up to the pledges given in 1944. Even the plethora of terms, cited above, used to describe the menace is itself an indication of the strength of these obstacles.

Sovereignty and jurisdiction are legal doctrines of a complex nature, which have been subject to differing interpretations by scholars in legal literature. The tridimensionality of state territory recognised under customary international law subsists until the present but there are other territories that do not or cannot belong to any state or political entity which also must be accounted for in legal theory. The issues surrounding sovereignty and jurisdiction are likely to become ever more pressing as globalisation, growing pressure on resources and the need for energy and national security become acute, and the resolution of special delimitation disputes seems likely to become a vital question in the twenty-first century. As a result of the fast pace of technological developments in air and space activities and the massive increases in air transportation , satellite communications and space exploration, the need for scholars and practitioners to sharpen their appreciation of the legal and political issues becomes crucial. This book will focus primarily on the issues of sovereignty jurisdiction and control in airspace and outer space and their effects on public and private activities, but it will also look at related issues pertaining to the Seas and Antarctica. Commercial exploitation, resource control and the international regime regulating contractual obligations in relation to transportation of goods and services over all forms of territory will be examined to the extent that they are necessary to explain jurisdictional rights and duties over territory. Older problems of international law such as crimes in the air and airspace trespass are treated along with newer developments such as space tourism as well as growing demand for private ownership and involvement in outer space exploitation. The book goes on to consider the distinction between airspace and outer space and puts forward legal criteria which would allow for the resolution of the spatial delimitation dispute. These criteria would determine where in spatial terms the exclusive sovereignty of airspace ends and where outer space – the province of all mankind – begins, and contribute to the jurisprudence of territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction.

This book covers the evolution of satellite based Aeronautical Public Correspondence and the operational environment in which services are being offered. Followed by an examination of applicable rules, including the relevant institutions from which they emanate, attention is devoted to the effect of State Sovereignty applicable in jurisdictions such as territorial airspace, the Arctic, Antarctica, and the High Seas as well as to activities such as telecommunications, air transport, copyright protection and trade in services. Particular attention is given to the ITU Radio Regulations; ITU Sector Recommendations; ICAO Council Resolutions; International Copyright Laws; National Operational Procedures and Statutes. A presentation of the relevant Laws and Regulations currently in force is made, while the subject of Liability is analysed against the backdrop of Case Law and legal instruments in the context of both Public and Private International Law. Looking to the future, the volume discusses the influence of Convergence and the need for more appropriate Regulations. It concludes with a 'Draft Agreement on the Use of Aircraft Earth Stations for Non-Safety Purposes'.