Drafted 10 September 2010 Location Beijing, China Condition 22 ratifications | Signed 10 September 2010 Effective not in force | |
Type Aviation, international criminal law, anti-terrorism | ||
The Beijing Convention (formally, the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation) is a 2010 treaty by which state parties agree to criminalise certain terrorist actions against civil aviation.
The Convention was concluded on 10 September 2010 at the Diplomatic Conference on Aviation Security in Beijing. (At the same conference, the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft was adopted.) Parties that ratify the Convention agree to criminalise using civil aircraft as a weapon and using dangerous materials to attack aircraft or other targets on the ground. The illegal transport of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons is also criminalised under the Convention.
The negotiation of a new aviation security treaty that would address emerging threats to aviation was in part prompted by the September 11 attacks. At the conclusion of the conference, the U.S. delegate stated that "[o]n the eve of the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States can think of no more fitting and hopeful way to mark that occasion than with the adoption of these two new major counterterrorism instruments."
As of the end of October 2016, the treaty is not in force. It has been signed by 32 states and ratified or acceded to by 16: Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Kuwait, Mali, Malta, Mozambique, Myanmar, Netherlands, Panama, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland. The Convention will enter into force after it has been ratified or acceded to by 22 states.