NCJ Number
43565
Journal
Southwestern University Law Review Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (1977) Pages: 85-110
Date Published
1977
Length
26 pages
Annotation
AN OVERVIEW IS PRESENTED OF THE AIRCRAFT HIJACKING PROBLEM, AND THE HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL EFFORTS TO CURB HIJACKING IS REVIEWED.
Abstract
THE HISTORY OF AIR PIRACY IS TRACED FROM INCIDENTS INSTIGATED BETWEEN 1947 AND 1953 BY POLITICAL TURMOIL IN EASTERN EUROPE, THROUGH HIJACKINGS FROM 1958 TO 1961 PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS WHICH SHOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO HIJACKINGS REFLECTING POLITICAL DISAFFECTION IN THE UNITED STATES, LEFT-WING AND GUERILLA ACTION IN SOME LATI AMERICAN COUNTRIES, POLITICAL OPPRESSION IN SOME EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AND PALESTINIAN GUERILLA MOVEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THE HAZARDS POSED BY HIJACKING TO CIVIL AVIATION ARE DISCUSSED, AS ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HIJACKERS. EFFORTS TO DEFINE THE CRIME OF HIJACKING ARE TRACED, AND THE STATUS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ANTIHIJACKING LAWS IS ASSESSED. IT IS POINTED OUT THAT, WHILE MOST COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PUNISH HIJACKERS OF THEIR OWN AIRCRAFT WITH OR WITHOUT ANTIHIJACKING LAWS, FEW COUNTRIES HAVE FORMULATED LAWS REGARDING THE UNLAWFUL DIVERSION OF FOREIGN AIRLINERS TO THEIR OWN AIRPORTS. IN SUCH INSTANCES, THE TREATMENT OF HIJACKERS USUALLY HAS BEEN DICTATED BY POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS. UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTIONS AND INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION CONVENTIONS CONCERNING AIR HIJACKING ARE REVIEWED AND EVALUATED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT, GENERALLY, HIJACKING MUST BE RECOGNIZED AS A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY ALL NATIONS UNDER EITHER DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THAT AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT IS NEEDED TO PROVIDE UNIVERSAL WARNING TO POTENTIAL HIJACKERS. POSSIBLE OBSTACLES TO SUCH AN AGREEMENT STEM FROM THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE'S RIGHT TO GRANT IMMUNITY, THE PROBLEM OF DEFINING THE SCOPE OF POLITICAL CRIMES, AND GENERAL OPPOSITION TO THE DEFINITION OF CRIMES IN INTERNATIONAL TERMS.