TNAG-2534-FCO40-3704-Hong-Kong-aviation-security-1992 — Page 2

23 December 1992

LAST PAPET!

Ian F C Envis Esq

Security Manager Europe/Middle East

Cathay Pacific Airways Limited

Room 614

North Roof Office Block

Gatwick Airport

Gatwick

West Sussex

18013

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

6 JAN 1993

RH6 OPS

OFFICER

REGISTRY

INDEX

PA

Action Taken

dear Mr Envis

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

London SWIA 2AH

Telephone: 071-

ра

A

B

CRIMINAL OFFENCES ON BOARD AIRCRAFT

1.

Thank you for your letter of 2 December to John Woodrow in our Hong Kong Department, which asked for guidance on the issue of jurisdiction for criminal offences committed on board aircraft.

2. I am afraid I am not qualified to comment on your view that you are in an anomalous position in respect of your aviation security obligations as applied by Transec, and the lack of protection you perceive you have under UK law for offences committed on board aircraft. The legal position on the latter is quite clear however, and is as stated in Mr Gate's letter to you of 26 November. Criminal offences committed on Hong Kong registered aircraft can only be prosecuted in Hong Kong.

3. By way of background, the matter of such jurisdiction was codified in the Tokyo Convention on Offences and certain other Acts committed on board Aircraft of 14 September 1963. This became law in the UK by virtue of the Tokyo Convention Act 1967. Most of that Act has been repealed and the latest version of its contents appears as Section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, a copy of which I attach at Annex A.

4.

In essence Section 92 provides that offences which occur on board British-controlled aircraft while in flight count as offences in UK law. Jurisdiction over the offence is conferred on the UK courts as if the offence had occurred on the ground in the part of the UK where the defendant happens to be. The key element for present purposes is that the phrase "British-controlled aircraft" means an aircraft which is registered in the UK.

5. The position is similar in the Dependent Territories with the substitution of the Territory for the UK. The matter is governed by the Tokyo Convention Act 1967 (Overseas Territories) Order 1968 (copy at Annex B). The Order applies to Hong Kong.

6.

The only potentially material difference in the regime is that in the 1967 Order the definition of "British-controlled Aircraft" means one which is "for the time being registered in the United

6