with express permission. By a French decree of 1913 the cir- culation in France of foreign military aircraft was forbidden, and the draft Franco-German Agreement of 1913 practically admitted the principle of the sovereignty of the air by allowing each country the right of making such regulations as it pleased for flights above its own territory.
From the beginning, therefore, air sovereignty and air legis- lation were influenced by a predominantly military conception of aviation, and, on the outbreak of war, the doctrine of the freedom of the air was doomed. In the words of the Civil Aerial Transport Committee in 1918: " Since the outbreak of the war sovereignty over the air has been generally claimed and, except by Germany, recognized." During the war neutral countries consistently regarded the passage of belligerent aircraft over their territory as an unneutral act.
Pre-war legislation was in spirit and effect distinctly national, and in Great Britain regulations affecting the entry of foreign aircraft from abroad were stringent. In the case of airships a clearance from a British consular officer was required, and in the case of aeroplanes notice had to be sent to the Home Office giving the proposed place of landing, time of arrival, and nationality. Aircraft were forbidden to carry mails or goods chargeable upon importation, and before departure were obliged to report to an officer at one of the pre- scribed landing-places. Otherwise, with the exception of an Order prohibiting the navigation of aeroplanes within four m. of Charing Cross and of a number of small areas over which flying was prohibited on military grounds, there was no State regulation of flying, and certification and other safety measures were carried out by the Royal Aero Club, which represents Britain on the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.
A similar state of things existed in France until the passage of the Aerial Navigation Act of 1913, which was to a considerable extent based on the draft Convention of 1910, and made the owner of an aircraft responsible for damage to property, provided for the regis- tration, marking and inspection of aircraft, pilots' certificates and log books, and prohibited the transport of foreign merchandise or of national merchandise unaccompanied by papers testifying to its French origin.
The only serious attempt to place aviation on an international civil basis, by the adoption of a code of regulations common to all countries, was the draft Convention of 1910, which dealt with the nationality and registration of aircraft, certificates and licences, the admission of aerial navigation over the territory of foreign States, customs and transportation, and rules of the air. The international aspect of aviation did not, however, completely die with the failure of the Convention to materialize. The Institute of International Law, in its session of 1911, adopted rules distinguishing aircraft as public and private, confining an aircraft to one nationality, i.e. that of the country in which it was registered, and imposing identification marks. Another step in international air traffic was the Franco-German Agree- ment of 1913 permitting the entry of civil aircraft into each country subject to the conditions that machines were provided with navigation licences and distinctive identification marks, that the fliers were provided with proficiency and nationality certificates, and that the requirements of international law and the customs and air regulations of each country were observed.
In England in 1913 the Convention of 1910 was reconsidered by a sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence; and when the advance in flying during the war indicated the great potentialities of aircraft for civil transport, a Civil Aerial Trans- port Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Northcliffe was appointed by the Air Board in 1917 to consider the whole subject, both from its international and national aspects. It was not, however, until after the Armistice that the first steps were taken by a departmental committee of the Air Ministry to frame regulations for civil flying in Great Britain. Shortly after, the drafting of a Convention governing international civil flying was included in the work of the Peace Delegates at Paris the coordination of the British proposals therewith being under- taken by Sir Frederick Sykes, and took shape as the Interna- tional Air Convention, which was signed by the majority of the Allied and Associated Powers on Oct. 13 1919, though up to Aug. 1921 ratification was not yet complete.
The objects aimed at by the Convention are the encourage-
ment of the peaceful intercourse of nations by means of air inter- communication, and the establishment of a broad basis upon which a uniform procedure for the control of air traffic can be drawn up by the contracting States.
The parties to the Convention recognize the exclusive sover- eignty of every Power over the air space above its own territory and territorial waters and those of its colonies, and while each contract- ing State allows freedom of innocent passage above its territory, except over certain areas prohibited for military reasons, to the air- craft of other contracting States, it may not, except by a special temporary authorization, permit the flight above its territory of aircraft belonging to non-contracting States (Article 5).
Every aircraft of a contracting State has the right to cross the air space of another State without landing, subject to following the route fixed by the State, but if it passes from one State into another it must land, if required to do so by the regulations, at an appointed aero- drome. Every State has the right to establish reservations and restrictions in favour of its national aircraft in connexion with the carriage of persons and goods for hire between two points in its territory but is liable to reciprocity on the part of other States. Any aerodrome in a contracting State open, on payment of charges, to public use by its national aircraft, is likewise open to the aircraft of all the other contracting States.
Aircraft engaged in international navigation must be provided by the State whose nationality it possesses with certificates of registra- tion and airworthiness, certificates of competency and licences for the crew, which must be recognized as valid by the other States, a list of passengers, and, if freight is carried, bills of lading, log books and a special licence for any wireless equipment carried.
The Convention forbids the carriage by aircraft, engaged in inter- national navigation, of explosives, arms and munitions of war. All private aircraft, i.e. aircraft which are not used for military pur- poses, or employed exclusively in State service, are subject to the provisions of the Convention.
A series of annexes to the Convention give detailed regulations with regard to the marking of aircraft (Annex A), certificates of air- worthiness (Annex B), log books (Annex C), lights and signals and rules of the air (Annex D), pilots' and navigators' certificates (Annex E), maps and ground markings (Annex F), the collection and dissemination of meteorological information (Annex G) and customs (Annex H).
The Convention provides for the establishment of a permanent International Commission of Air Navigation, affiliated to the League of Nations, consisting of two representatives of the United States. France, Italy and Japan, one representative of Great Britain and each of the British Dominions and India, which are deemed States for the purposes of the Convention, and one representative of each of the other contracting States, for carrying out the terms of the Convention and the interchange of information.
Disagreements among States as to the interpretation of the Con- vention and technical regulations are to be settled respectively by the Permanent Court of International Justice and a majority of votes of the Commission. A State which took part in the war of 1914-9 but which is not a signatory of the Convention may only adhere to it if a member of the League of Nations, or, until Jan. I 1923, if its adhesion is approved by the Allied and Associated Powers, or after that date if it is agreed to by at least three-fourths of the signatory States.
States which remained neutral during the war have not availed themselves of the Article permitting their adhesion to the Conven- tion, mainly owing to the restriction placed by Article 5 on their intercourse by air with late enemy States. To overcome this diffi- culty, a Protocol was subsequently added to the Convention permitting certain derogations to Article 5 and authorizing the contracting States profiting thereby to allow, for a limited period of time, the aircraft of one or more named non-contracting States to fly over its territory.
The above Convention of 1919, the charter of international flying, may be regarded as prescribing the minimum control required from contracting States. There is no reason why States should not make their regulations more stringent for their own aircraft in the interests of safety and efficiency. The harmoniza- tion of the regulations enforced by the contracting States will undoubtedly form an important part of the functions of the Inter- national Commission of Air Navigation.
During 1919-20 a large number of countries, including, among others, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, the Scandinavian kingdoms, Holland, Italy, Switzerland and Germany, passed regula- tions more or less in accordance with the requirements of the Con- vention, though in most cases frequent additional Acts or Decrees, embodying modifications in the original regulations, have been found necessary to secure stricter conformity with the Convention. Thus the British Aerial Navigation Act of 1919, and the Regulations issued by its authority which were influenced by, but actually pre- ceded, the signature of the Convention were only temporary, and were superseded by the Air Navigation Act of 1920.
