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(Summary of a presentation made by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne, International Civil Aviation Organization , at the International Summit on Aviation Security and Safety, Washington DC, recently)

The attacks of 11 September 2001 inevitably highlighted the strategic position of civil aviation both as an industry vulnerable to attack and also as an integral tool in ensuring peace and security in the world.

The modernist view of civil aviation, as it prevailed when the Convention on International Civil Aviation was signed at Chicago on 7 December 1944, was centred on State sovereignty and the widely accepted post-war view that the development of international civil aviation can greatly help to create and preserve friendship and understanding among the nations and peoples of the world, yet its abuse can become a threat to general security.

This essentially modernist philosophy focussed on the State as the ultimate sovereign authority which can overrule considerations of international community welfare if they clashed with the domestic interests of the State. It gave way, in the 60s and 70s to a post-modernist era of acceptance of the individual as a global citizen, whose interests at public international law were considered paramount over considerations of individual State interests.

The 11 September 2001 events led to a new era that now calls for a neo post-modernist approach which admits of social elements and corporate interests being involved with States in an overall effort at securing world peace and security. The role of civil aviation in this process is critical, since it is an integral element of commercial and social interactivity and a tool that could be used by the world community to forge closer interactivity between the people of the world.

The real significance of the Convention, particularly as a tool for ensuring the political will of individual States, lies in the fundamental philosophy contained in its Preamble. A closer examination of the Preamble reveals that the Convention enunciates a message of peace through aviation. It makes mention of the future development of international civil aviation being able to help preserve friendship and understanding among the nations of the world, while its abuse (i.e. abuse of future development of international civil aviation) can become a threat to "the general security".

By "general security" the Chicago Conference meant the prevention of threats to peace. These words have been interpreted in the widest possible sense by the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to cover instances of social injustice such as racial discrimination as well as threats to commercial expediency made possible by civil aviation. For example, the 15th session of the ICAO Assembly adopted Resolution A15-7 (Condemnation of the Policies of Apartheid and Racial Discrimination of South Africa) where the Resolution urged South Africa to comply with the aims and objectives of the Chicago Convention, on the basis that the apartheid policies constitute a permanent source of conflict between the nations and peoples of the world and that the policies of apartheid and racial discrimination are a flagrant violation of the principles enshrined in the Preamble to the Chicago Convention.

The Preamble was also quoted in Resolution A17-1 (Declaration by the Assembly) which requested concerted action on the part of States towards suppressing all acts which jeopardize safety and orderly development of international civil aviation. In Resolution A20-2 (Acts of Unlawful Interference with Civil Aviation) the Assembly reiterated its confidence that the development of international civil aviation can be an effective tool in bringing about friendship and understanding among the peoples of the world.

Post-modernism was a characteristic of the 60s and 70s, which progressed steadily toward the 21st Century. Post-modernist thinking was geared to recognizing that human culture, as we knew it from a social and economic perspective, was reaching an end. This school of thought associated itself with the momentum of industrial society, drawing on an image of pluralism of cultures and a multitude of groups.

The interaction between political modernism, which brought to bear the globalization of nations and deconstruction of separatism of human society, while at the same time ascribing to the individual rights at international law that transcended natural legislation parameters and civil aviation, has been symbiotic and essentially economic.

In the post-modernist era, the fundamental modernist philosophy of state sovereignty and peace gave way to an industrial culture that emphasized economic coexistence for the betterment of the global citizen. In view of the importance of globalization and economic integration, civil aviation went through a metamorphosis in regulatory approaches to commercial aviation in the forty years leading to the 21st century.

Peace and understanding among nations was achieved through the post-modernist imperative of citizens' needs.

Until 11 September 2001, the link between civil aviation and world peace was somewhat conceptual and intellectual. However, when four civilian aircraft on United States domestic services were destroyed by terrorist acts and crews, hundreds of passengers and thousands of innocent victims in buildings located in New York City and Washington DC were killed, civil aviation ceased to be isolated from the world peace efforts and became immediately and inextricably linked to overall endeavours of the world community toward achieving peace and economic sustainability.

The neo post-modernist era for civil aviation was signalled by United National Resolution A/RES/421(XIV) which referred to the immediate consequences of the attacks of 11 September 2001 as the closure of civil airports in the United States and disruptions of air services.

The Resolution also referred to A/RES/145(V) which concerned the safety of civil aviation in relation to tourism. The new era brought about a certain paralysis of world trade which necessitated the linking of both States and their instrumentalities with the private sector in an effort toward finding solutions to ensure that the trade machine of the world keeps functioning.

The Preamble to the Chicago Convention unequivocally imputes to civil aviation a vulnerability that could result in its being targeted as a tool for the disruption of world peace and security.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1269, adopted by the Security Council on October 19, 1999 reflects the concern of the world community with regard to the increase of international terrorism which endangers the lives and well-being of individuals worldwide as well as the peace and security of all States.

The Resolution goes on to condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, and in all their forms and manifestations, wherever and by whomever committed, in particular those which could threaten international peace and security.

With this declaration, the United Nations Security Council has widened the scope for combatting terrorism, particularly to encompass such instances as the 11 September events, which could expand to economic paralysis of global commercial activity through attacks aimed at the aviation industry.

The principle of State Responsibility with regard to world peace and security lies primarily in Article 24 of the United Nations Charter which calls upon all members to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

Furthermore, Article 51 of the Charter preserves the right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations, notwithstanding any right granted by the Charter that would preclude any member State from interfering in the affairs of another member State, particularly with regard to matters of state sovereignty.

International terrorism, purportedly committed by private individuals could nonetheless be brought within the preview of the above mentioned provisions of the United Nations Charter, particularly from the neo post- modernist approach of collective involvement.

This principle is embodied in recent work of the International Law Commission, through Article 2 of the Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts which provides that international responsibility of a state, which is referred to in Article 1, is attributable to that state if conduct of the state constitutes a breach of an international obligation of that state.

The document also provides that the wrongfulness of an act of a state is precluded if the act constitutes a lawful measure of self defence taken in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations. The state responsible for an internationally wrongful act is under an obligation to compensate for damage caused, including reparation for financially assessable damage including loss of profits.

In addition to state responsibility for conduct attributable to that State, the International Law Commission has established that a crime against the peace and security of mankind entails individual responsibility, and in a crime of aggression.

A further link drawing civil aviation to the realm of international peace and security lies in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal court, which defines a war crime, inter alia, as intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects; attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objects; employing weapons, projectiles, and material and methods of warfare that cause injury.

The Statute also defines as a war crime, any act which is intentionally directed at buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law. The critical consideration for civil aviation in the present context lies in its contribution to the sustainability of economic development and social security.

The role played by civil aviation in the profile of a country, whether it be on an international or domestic basis, is unique in that it signifies the economic and social progress being made by that country and also acts as a benchmark of the level of peace and security in that territory.

In addition to the economic contribution of civil aviation to the world, certain key factors such as insurance, security and safety of aviation play a major role in sustaining air services and assuring the world of the continuation of commercial activity through communication and travel within the overall umbrella of efforts of the World community at ensuring peace and security.

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