So I was travelling to HKG.. (please humour me!)

Moonchild

Travel or law forum?

This isn't a joke, or a smart alec question, I genuinely don't know. Obviously this didn't really happen.

So I was flying on Air New Zealand from Heathrow to Hong Kong the other day.

And mid-flight (somewhere over Kazahkstan according to the skymap), this Aussie bloke got into an argument with his neighbour and using his surprisingly sharp cutlery knife and stabbed a Frenchman.

Naturally once this Aussie bloke was restrained, the plane diverted to the nearest airport, which was in Russia, and the Aussie bloke was arrested.

Under what legal system would he be tried? Which countries laws has he broken? :mad:

System

I believe that whilst operating civil aircraft, you are subject to the laws of the country in whose airspace you are, irrespective of your personal nationality, the nationality of the operator or the nationality of the airplane.

If in international airspace E.G. mid-Atlantic then nationality of the aircraft applies

worbikeman

I dont know about aeroplanes but if you commit a serious crime aboard a ship you are put off at the next port and dealt with by their authorities according to their laws.

Moonchild

!!!!!! wrote: »

I believe that whilst operating civil aircraft, you are subject to the laws of the country in whose airspace you are, irrespective of your personal nationality, the nationality of the operator or the nationality of the airplane.

If in international airspace E.G. mid-Atlantic then nationality of the aircraft applies

So in my instance, it would be Kazahkstan? Who would be responsible for extraditing him from Russia to Kazakhstan? And would they really want to deal with something that happened at 40,000ft above them?

Heliflyguy

This may help or just may help to confuse more.

http://www.nti.org/e_research/official_docs/inventory/pdfs/aptairterr.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Convention

Pelican_eats_pigeon

The text of the Convention seems to suggest that both Russia and New Zealand would be competent to prosecute the offender.

Edit: Though it is unclear whether Russia has any legislation that allows it to claim jurisdiction on offences committed against non-nationals outside of its territory.

signol

!!!!!! wrote: »

I believe that whilst operating civil aircraft, you are subject to the laws of the country in whose airspace you are, irrespective of your personal nationality, the nationality of the operator or the nationality of the airplane.

If in international airspace E.G. mid-Atlantic then nationality of the aircraft applies

Actually, regardless of the country whose airspace you are in, you are covered by the laws of the country of registration of the aircraft (not necessarily the airline itself, eg. Alitalia from Italy has several Irish registered aircraft).

See here:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5098081/

signol

System

signol wrote: »

Actually, regardless of the country whose airspace you are in, you are covered by the laws of the country of registration of the aircraft (not necessarily the airline itself, eg. Alitalia from Italy has several Irish registered aircraft).

See here:
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5098081/

signol

You didn't read that thread very well. It actually supports my hypothesis
It agrees that the practical effect of all the laws is

[FONT=ARIAL,]Basically the laws of the country of registration apply while in flight in international airspace, within national airspace the laws of the country apply[/FONT]

signol

!!!!!! wrote: »

You didn't read that thread very well. It actually supports my hypothesis
It agrees that the practical effect of all the laws is

Oops, you are right :doh:

signol

System

Although I think reality is probably different and you would be dealt with under the law of the country in which you were turfed off the aircraft.

Pelican_eats_pigeon

The convention specifically provides that you are covered by the laws of the country of registration even while in flight over the airspace of another country. It also provides that the country of landing can take care of you under its legal system.

Theoretically the country whose airspace you are in could also charge you, however my reading of the convention suggests that the country of registration would have priority to prosecute you should it want to. Which in this case I presume it would.