1. Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally
Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, New York, 14
December 1973 The Convention applies to the crimes of direct involvement or complicity in the murder, kidnapping, or attack, whether actual, attempted or threatened, on the person, official premises, private accommodation or means of transport of diplomatic agents and other "internationally protected persons". Internationally protected persons are defined as Heads of State or Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs, State officials and representatives of international organizations entitled to special protection in a foreign State, and their families. States Parties have obligations to establish their jurisdiction over the offences described, make the offences punishable by appropriate penalties, take alleged offenders into custody, prosecute or extradite alleged offenders, cooperate in preventive measures, and exchange information and evidence needed in related criminal proceedings. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences between States Parties under existing extradition treaties, and under the Convention itself. CLOSED for Signature 2. International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, New York, 17 December 1979 The Convention applies to the offence of direct involvement or complicity in the seizure or detention of, and threat to kill, injure or continue to detain a hostage, whether actual or attempted, in order to compel a State, an international intergovernmental organization, a person or a group of persons, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage. Each State Party is required to make this offence punishable by appropriate penalties. Where hostages are held in the territory of a State Party, the State Party is obligated to take all measures it considers appropriate to ease the situation of the hostages and secure their release. After the release of the hostages, States Parties are obligated to facilitate the departure of the hostages. Each State Party is obligated to take such actions as may be necessary to establish jurisdiction over the offence of taking of hostages. States Parties have obligations to establish their jurisdiction over the offences described, make the offences punishable by appropriate penalties, take alleged offenders into custody, prosecute or extradite alleged offenders, cooperate in preventive measures, and exchange information and evidence needed in related criminal proceedings. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences between States Parties under existing extradition treaties, and under the Convention itself. CLOSED for Signature 3. International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, New York, 15 December 1997 The Convention applies to the offence of the intentional and unlawful delivery, placement, discharge or detonation of an explosive or other lethal device, whether attempted or actual, in, into or against a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system or an infrastructure facility, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or extensive destruction likely to or actually resulting in major economic loss. Any person also commits an offence if that person participates as an accomplice in any of these acts, organizes others to commit them or in any other way contributes to their commission. The Convention does not apply where an act of this nature does not involve any international elements as defined by the Convention. States Parties are required to establish jurisdiction over and make punishable, under their domestic laws, the offences described, to extradite or submit for prosecution persons accused of committing or aiding in the commission of the offences, and to assist each other in connection with criminal proceedings under the Convention. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences between States Parties under existing extradition treaties, and under the Convention itself. CLOSED for Signature 4. International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, New York, 9 December 1999 The Convention applies to the offence of direct involvement or complicity in the intentional and unlawful provision or collection of funds, whether attempted or actual, with the intention or knowledge that any part of the funds may be used to carry out any of the offences described in the Conventions listed in the Annex, or an act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person not actively involved in armed conflict in order to intimidate a population, or to compel a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act. The provision or collection of funds in this manner is an offence whether or not the funds are actually used to carry out the proscribed acts. The Convention does not apply where an act of this nature does not involve any international elements as defined by the Convention. The Convention requires each State Party to take appropriate measures, in accordance with its domestic legal principles, for the detection and freezing, seizure or forfeiture of any funds used or allocated for the purposes of committing the offences described. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences and States Parties have obligations to establish their jurisdiction over the offences described, make the offences punishable by appropriate penalties, take alleged offenders into custody, prosecute or extradite alleged offenders, cooperate in preventive measures and countermeasures, and exchange information and evidence needed in related criminal proceedings. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences between States Parties under existing extradition treaties, and under the Convention itself. OPEN for Signature until 31 December 2001 5. Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, Tokyo, 14 September 1963 (*) The Convention applies to offences and other acts prejudicial to good order and discipline on board an aircraft, committed while the aircraft is in flight or on the surface of the high seas or of any other area outside the territory of any State. It does not apply to State aircraft, for example, aircraft used in military, customs and police services. The purpose of the Tokyo Convention is to protect the safety of the aircraft and of the persons or property thereon and to maintain good order and discipline on board. The aircraft commander, members of the crew and, in specific circumstances, even passengers on board, are empowered to prevent the commission of such acts and to disembark the person concerned. The aircraft commander may also disembark the offender or, if the offence is serious, deliver him to the competent authorities of a Contracting State when the aircraft lands. The Convention protects the aircraft commander and any crew member or passenger assisting him in imposing the measures he finds necessary from any proceedings in respect of actions taken by them. The State of registration of the aircraft is competent to exercise jurisdiction over offences and acts committed on board. Each Contracting State is obliged to take the necessary measures to establish its jurisdiction as the State of registration. The Convention does not eliminate existing or future jurisdiction in States other than the State of registration. A Contracting State which is not the State of registration may not interfere with an aircraft in flight in order to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over an offence committed on board except in certain cases, for instance, the offence has been effected in the territory of the State overflown, the offence has been committed by or against a national or permanent resident of that State, and the offence is against the security of that State. 6. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, The Hague, 16 December 1970 (*) The Convention defines the act of unlawful seizure of aircraft, and the Contracting States have undertaken to make such an offence punishable by severe penalties. Under the provisions of The Hague Convention a State is obliged, whether or not it is the State of registration, to take such measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the offence in the case where the alleged offender is present in its territory and it does not extradite him. If there is no extradition treaty between the States concerned and the offender is in the territory of a Contracting State and that State refuses to extradite the offender, then it must submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution under its criminal law. The Convention requires any Contracting State in which the aircraft or its passengers or crew are present to facilitate the continuation of the journey of the passengers and crew as soon as possible and to return the aircraft and its cargo to the persons lawfully entitled to possession without delay. 7. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, Montreal, 23 September 1971 (*)
The Convention deals with acts other than those covered by the Tokyo and The Hague Conventions. The Montreal Convention defines a wide spectrum of unlawful acts against the safety of civil aviation and the Contracting States have undertaken to make these offences punishable by severe penalties. The Convention contains detailed provisions on jurisdiction, custody, prosecution and extradition of the alleged offender similar to those of The Hague Convention. Like the Tokyo and The Hague Conventions, the Montreal Convention does not apply to aircraft used in military, customs or police services. This Convention attempts to establish a form of universal jurisdiction over the offender, as provided in Article 5(1) of the Convention. The scope of the Convention is primarily determined in terms of the "international element" provided in Article 1, sub-paragraphs 1(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e). The Convention applies, irrespective of whether the aircraft is engaged in international or domestic flight, only as provided in Article 4(2) of the Convention, namely, if:
In the case of air navigation facilities mentioned in Article 1, sub-paragraph 1(d), the Convention applies only if the facilities destroyed, damaged, or interfered with are used in international air navigation. 8. Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, Vienna, 3 March 1980 (**) The Physical Protection Convention has a twofold objective: it establishes levels of physical protection required to be applied to nuclear material used for peaceful purposes while in international nuclear transport and it also provides for measures against unlawful acts with respect to such material while in international nuclear transport as well as in domestic use, storage and transport. Although the levels or physical protection prescribed in the Convention are required to be applied only to nuclear material used for peaceful purposes while international nuclear transport, other provisions of the Convention (e.g., the requirements that relate to making specified acts punishable offences under national law, to establishing jurisdiction over those offences and to prosecuting or extraditing alleged offenders) apply also to nuclear material used for peaceful purposes while in domestic use, storage and transport. Accordingly, States Parties to the Convention are obliged to make punishable under their national law the intentional commission of offences with respect to nuclear material as listed in its Article 7, in particular, intentional commission of: acts without lawful authority dealing with nuclear material causing or likely to cause death or serious injury or damage to any person or property; theft or robbery of nuclear material; embezzlement or fraudulent obtaining of nuclear material; demands for nuclear material by any form of intimidation; threats to use nuclear material to cause death or serious injury or damage to any person or property; or threats to steal nuclear material to compel a person, international organization or State to do or refrain from doing any act. The Convention also contains specific rules on jurisdiction and extradition. 9. Protocol on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, Montreal, 24 February 1988 (*) The Protocol adds to the definition of "offence" given in the Montreal Convention of 1971 unlawful and intentional acts of violence against persons at an airport serving international civil aviation which cause or are likely to cause serious injury or death and such acts which destroy or seriously damage the facilities of such an airport or aircraft not in service located thereon or disrupt the services of the airport; the qualifying element of these offences is the fact that such an act endangers or is likely to endanger safety at that airport. These offences are punishable by severe penalties, and Contracting States are obliged to establish jurisdiction over the offences not only in the case where the offence was committed in their territory but also in the case where the alleged offender is present in their territory and they do not extradite him to the State where the offence took place. 10. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, Rome, 10 March 1988 The Convention applies to the offences of direct involvement or complicity in the intentional and unlawful threatened, attempted or actual endangerment of the safe navigation of a ship by the commission of any of the following acts: seizure of or exercise of control over a ship by any form of intimidation; violence against a person on board a ship; destruction of a ship or the causing of damage to a ship or to its cargo; placement on a ship of a device or substance which is likely to destroy or cause damage to that ship or its cargo; destruction of, serious damaging of, or interference with maritime navigational facilities; knowing communication of false information; injury to or murder of any person in connection with any of the preceding acts. The Convention applies to ships navigating or scheduled to navigate into, through or from waters beyond the outer limit of the territorial sea of a single State, or the lateral limits of its territorial sea with adjacent States, or when the alleged offender is found in the territory of a State Party. The Convention does not apply to warships, ships owned or operated by a State when being used as a naval auxiliary or for customs or police purposes or ships that have been withdrawn from navigation or laid up. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences and States-parties have obligations to establish their jurisdiction over the offences described, make the offences punishable by appropriate penalties, take alleged offenders into custody, prosecute or extradite alleged offenders, cooperate in preventative measures, and exchange information and evidence needed in related criminal proceedings. 11. Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms located on the Continental Shelf, Rome, 10 March 1988 The Protocol applies to the offences described in the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation when committed in relation to a "fixed platform", defined as an artificial island, installation or structure permanently attached to the sea-bed for the purpose of exploration or exploitation of resources or for other economic purposes. States-parties have obligations in relation to establishing their jurisdiction over the offences described, making the offences punishable by appropriate penalties, taking alleged offenders into custody and prosecuting or extraditing them. 12. Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection, Montreal, 1 March 1991 (*) The Convention requires each State Party to prohibit and prevent the manufacture in its territory of unmarked plastic explosives. Plastic explosives will be marked by introducing during the manufacturing process any one of the detection agents defined in the Technical Annex to the Convention. The Convention also requires each State Party to prohibit and prevent the movement into or out of its territory of unmarked explosives and to exercise strict and effective control over the possession of any existing stocks of unmarked explosives. Stocks of plastic explosives not held by authorities performing military and police functions are to be destroyed or consumed for purposes not inconsistent with the objectives of the Convention, marked or rendered permanently ineffective, within a period of three years from the entry into force of the Convention in respect of the State concerned. The Convention also establishes an International Explosives Technical Commission, experts in the field of manufacture or detection of, or research in, explosives. The Commission will evaluate technical developments relating to the manufacture, marking and detection of explosives, report its findings, through the Council of ICAO, to all States Parties and international organizations concerned, and propose amendments to the Technical Annex to the Convention, as required.
(*) Summary courtesy of ICAO
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