Implementation of Article 21
Under the item “Implementation of Article 21 of the Chicago Convention” of the General Work Programme of the Legal Committee, a Task Force was established and it held its first meeting in Montréal in September 2017.
The Task Force acknowledged that, for purposes of registration of aircraft, the meaning of the concept of “ownership” of aircraft differed among States. Nevertheless, the Task Force agreed not to recommend any amendments to Article 21 in an attempt to define “ownership” to conform to any of the prevailing systems. Further, the Task Force expressed the view that States should not be required to adjust their domestic rules and regulations for the purpose of harmonizing the meaning of ownership and agreed to develop some recommendations to make the differences in the concept of “ownership” more transparent. A better understanding of differences between registration systems around the world would facilitate, in many Contracting States, the registration of aircraft transferred from other States.
The Task Force will support the development of a new ICAO Aircraft Registry System and consider the idea of developing a “Model Certificate of De-registration of Aircraft” for inclusion in Annex 7 — Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks. A second meeting of the Task Force is scheduled to be held in Montréal in April 2018.
