Aviation Law and Crime

Civil aviation holds a special place in the French economic model. While the sector is strongly determined by its industrial, economic and even technical aspects, its complexity also induces, though less well known, a whole "criminal biotope" specific to airports and air transport, itself intimately linked to the economic development of this mode of transport.

Safety and security are therefore at the heart of public order in the air.

This book is aimed at

- neophytes (wishing to better know and understand this particular sector, or to take an original approach to the air transport ecosystem),

- seasoned practitioners (aeronautical investigators, airline pilots or even private pilots, remote pilots, airport security managers, etc., seeking to secure their practices and control the legal and criminal risks inherent in these professions)

- as well as to the various players in the sector.

It also aims to provide invaluable assistance

- by explaining each offence - both common law and specific to the sector - and illustrating them with numerous examples and sources.

Readers will be able to

- take a look at the complex organization and operation of civil aviation, through the many public and private players involved in preventing and punishing trouble.

- on the other hand, it will familiarize the reader with the large number of existing offences, the multiplicity of their sources, and the often overlooked administrative sanctions that can be incurred by those involved.

The book also addresses recent issues in the sector, such as terrorism and internal threats, the right culture, drone use, the development of unruly passengers, and lasers.

Preface
Introduction
Importance and complexity of public order
Aviation safety and security
Chapter 1: Aviation security players
Section 1: Specific features of the sector - organization and operation
of the aviation sector.
Section 2: The industry's law enforcement agencies - role and competencies
1) The Direction de la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (DSAC).
2) Gendarmerie des Transports Aériens.
3) Police services.
4) Customs (Ministry of the Budget).
5) Military (Operation Sentinelle).
6) Prefect delegated to airports (Roissy, Orly and Le Bourget).
7) Departmental Prefects.
8) Private and semi-public bodies.
a) Airport/aerodrome operators
b) Air transport companies
c) Private security providers
FOCUS: Security coordination at international airports
Chapter 2: Criminal offences in the air transport sector
Section 1: Common law offences involving air transport
Manslaughter.
Manslaughter.
FOCUS: safety investigations and criminal liability
Violence.
Drug offences.
Communicating false information.
Theft and aggravated theft
Fraud and breach of trust.
Skulduggery.
Receiving stolen goods.
Destruction, degradation and deterioration.
Terrorism.
Aggregation.
FOCUS: identity checks and video tagging
Hit-and-run offences.
Forgery and use of forgeries - forgery of administrative documents - possession of forgeries.
Aiding illegal entry and residence.
Possession, installation and use of a device designed to render electronic communication equipment inoperative.
FOCUS: development of offences involving drones
Section 2: Offences specific to the air
1) Punishment of air crime under the French Penal Code
a) General framework
Unruly passengers (known as PAXI).
Annex 17 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
b) Criminal offences.
Aircraft hijacking
Correct aeronautical culture and criminal law
FOCUS: The decisive hypothesis for aviation security of "internal threats".
2) The repression of aviation crime within the Transport Code.
The case of air safety and accidents.
Registration, airworthiness and nuisance limitation certificates.
During flight.
Air events.
Illegal public transport.
Infringement of aircrew employment law.
FOCUS: Drones: generators of general criminal offences, but
also specific
The aerodrome.
FOCUS: Abandoned parcels (Orly and Roissy-CDG)
Other sources of repression.
FOCUS: Constant innovation by the players involved: lasers.
Towards a progressive blurring of administrative and judicial policing in the air.
Chapter 3: Administrative and disciplinary sanctions
Specific features of administrative sanctions, repression and a "just culture".