Viorel CHIRICIOIU*

Abstract: The international legal provisions regulating civil aviation security have been constantly evolving, mostly adopted as the direct response of the international community to various accidents and incidents. The main international actor in this field is ICAO, contributing a great deal to the improvement of the security regulations, chiefly through the adoption of the major conventions dealing with international criminal law in civil aviation. The UN Security Council also offers other valuable resources, while the International Court of Justice itself has also dealt with a number of relevant cases. However, even though we are witnessing the adoption of new, up-to-date regulations covering, preventing and criminalising the most various threats, there is no effective enforcement mechanism and, as such, international cooperation is essential in order to prevent further aviation tragedies.

Key-words: aviation, security, safety, ICAO, terrorism

* Viorel Chiricioiu has an LLM (University College London), LLB (University of Bucharest). The opinions expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not engage the institution he belongs to. The present paper represents an abridged version of the author’s dissertation for his LLM programme at University College London.