Refining Aviation Sanctions from an Air Law Perspective

Aviation sanctions exist at the intersection between the UN Charter and the Chicago Convention, in that the former enables the Security Council to interrupt air communication and the latter forces International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to render assistance to the UN with regard to air matters when world security is concerned. This article examines how air law, which aims to promote the development of air transport and the universal application of air rules, came to accommodate the UN sanctions regime, an exclusive mechanism designed to prevent targeted States from utilizing international air transport. As UN sanctions evolved from being blunt instruments to smart ones, taking into account human rights and humanitarian concerns, aviation sanctions have evolved in tandem from the comprehensive air bans of yesteryear to more complex mechanisms that incorporate an array of supplementary tools that facilitate other sanctions measures. Nevertheless, there remains ample room to refine aviation sanctions with the aid of an air law perspective and the active involvement of ICAO. Aviation safety, the cornerstone of air law, deserves due regard when the UN and ICAO design and implement aviation sanctions, and a two-way dialogue between the UN Charter and the Chicago Convention will confer more legitimacy on aviation sanctions.