Tokyo Convention. Under Article 1(b) of the Tokyo Convention,535 the Convention applies to “acts which, whether or not they are offences” may or do jeopardise the safety of the aircraft or of persons or property therein…” Under Article 1(2), the Tokyo Convention only applies where such acts are “done by a person on board any aircraft…while that aircraft is in flight or on the surface of the high seas or of any other area outside the territory of any State”.536 Abeyratne537 states that, as the Tokyo Convention provides that the state of registration538 has jurisdiction for offences committed on board aircraft, and as more carriers are entering into lease agreements, these developments "necessitate a closer look at the requirements of registration and nationality as dictated to by the Chicago Convention", presumably in the context of how such state of registration may differ in the case of leased and owned aircraft due to Article 83 bis. Having undertaken just such a closer look, this author has concluded that there is little material relevance being inferred by reason simply of an aircraft being leased rather than owned and thus being registered in a different state than would otherwise be the case. ICAO set up539 a panel of experts on lease, charter and interchange of aircraft. The panel’s recommendations ultimately led to Article 83 bis of the Chicago Convention.540 It considered recommending amending Article 3 of the Tokyo Convention to provide that, in the case of an aircraft leased without crew to a lessee having its principal place of business in a state other than the state of registration of the aircraft, that other state should “also be competent to exercise jurisdiction.”541 Various amendments to this effect were discussed but misgivings were expressed and ultimately, although the relevant: 534 Vide Public International Air Law Instruments in Annals of Air and Space Law, Volume XXX Part I, XxXxxx University, 2005, at 5-322. 535 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963. 536 Note the reference to “any State”, not “any Contracting State.” 000 Xxxxxxxxx X X X, Xxxxxxxx in Crisis, Ashgate, 2004, at 101. 538 Article 3(1). 539 Pursuant to ICAO Council decision C-Min 87/13 paragraphs 17-24 of April 7, 1976. 540 Vide 3.15.8 infra. 541 Fitzgerald G F, The Lease, Charter and Interchange of Aircraft in International Relations: Amendments to the Chicago and Rome Conventions, Annals of Air and Space Law, Volu...
