The Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and Watermanagement Cora van Nieuwenhuizen has offered the first copy of the book 'Behind and Beyond the Chicago Convention: The Evolution of Aerial Sovereignty' to the Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The book has been produced by Pablo Mendes de Leon and Niall Buissing of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University.
ICAO is a United Nations specialized agency, established by States in 1944 to govern international civil aviation under which was drawn up in the same year (1944) the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). The Convention regulates international air navigation and transport and the right to fly in and over countries' sovereign airspace. Once every three years, the 193 Member States of ICAO gather in Montreal for the General Assembly to discuss aviation policy.
Special occassion
This week, during a plenary session of the 40th General Assembly, Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen congratulated the organization on its 75th birthday. 'To mark this special occasion I was delighted to present ICAO with a birthday gift in my meeting this morning with Dr Liu, it is a book put together by the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University in which a large number of international experts discuss the achievements of the Chicago Convention: the Evolution of Aerial Sovereignty. Their conclusion was: it is still very much alive and kicking, and looking ahead I agree with them entirely.
Earlier that morning, the Dutch delegation met with the Secretary-General Fang Liu and presented the first copy of the book in the presence of the authors.
Leiden University is well-represented at ICAO, where, among others, currently two alumni hold the positions of Secretary-General and Director of the Legal Affairs and External Relations Bureau.
Photo: From left to right: Ms Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Minister of Infrastructure and Watermanagement of the Netherlands), Pablo Mendes de Leon (Professor of Air and Space Law, Leiden University), Dr. Fang Liu (Secretary-General of ICAO) and Niall Buissing (Academic Coordinator, Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University).
