The International Law of Satellite-Based Navigation Aids

摘要

From a legal standpoint, the implementation of CNS/ATM is going well indeed. ICAO's Air NavigationrnBureau and expert panels are busily formulating the Standards and Recommended Practices for systemrnperformance that will be binding on member States as they are promulgated. The Council and severalrnAssemblies have issued nonbinding policy pronouncements on the general terms under whichrnimplementation should proceed. Most important, CNS/ATM, like every previous technical developmentrnin world civil aviation, is well within the capacity of the current, very flexible legal frameworkrngoverning air navigation—the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention) andrnits Annexes—to make rules, monitor their implementation, and resolve disputes. Moreover, the ICAOrnLegal Committee, an expert panel of legal and technical experts, and—most recently—a legal issuesrnstudy group convened by the ICAO Secretariat, are busily exploring whether there might be a deed forrnlong-term legal changes to handle the long-term CNS/ATM. Most important, all of ICAO's efforts in thernlegal field are conditioned on the proviso that they will not be permitted to delay the actual technicalrnimplementation of the navigation regime of the 21st century.