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.

Published in 1998. The various conventions which apply to the subject of unlawful interface with civil aviation have proved effective only to the extent of nurturing existing values of international law as they are restrictively perceived through the parameters of air law. This book examines the offence of unlawful interference with international civil aviation and analyses critically the legal and regulatory regime that applies thereto, with a view to recommending measures that are calculated to infuse a new approach to the problem. Emphasis is laid throughout the work on action which may be taken to alleviate the problem of unlawful interference. Its conclusion incorporates various steps that can be taken towards achieving this objective. The author focuses on the core of the problem which has effectively precluded significant progress into inroads that would curb the threat terrorism in aviation: the attitude of the international community. The book therefore examines in limine the fundamental role of international law in the light of the United Nationals Congress of International Public Law of March 1995, and its effect on international criminal law. It then determines the applicable principles of State sovereignty and examines the principles of State responsibility. Its main purpose is to recommend the establishment of a new philosophy of international criminal law which transcends municipal boundaries. Academic, scholarly and judicial precedent for this book is the adduced in support of this argument. The book also examines the role of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the regulatory body responsible for civil aviation, in the context of new approaches made by the international community towards the status of ICAO in aviation security. The practical value of this work essentially lies in the legal recommendations it makes at its conclusion, which are based on existing principles of international law. It will thus be invaluable not only to international and aviation lawyers, criminal lawyers (both international and national), security professionals and teachers and students of international law, but also to aviation industry executives and regulatory agency specialists whose responsibilities impinge on or are determined by existing and evolving legal and security measures.