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A
new draft Aviation Proclamation Bill proposes giving
jurisdiction to federal courts to rule over offences
committed in Ethiopian registered aircrafts.
The 44-page proclamation, which passed the first
deliberation at Parliament on June 26, 2008, has 95
articles, including article 71, which bestows
Ethiopian courts greater authority over civil
aviation offenses.
The existing proclamation, which re-established the
Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority in 2001, does not
give power to the authority beyond following and
controlling the sector, the introduction to the
proclamation read.
The latest draft, however, attempts to include all
the stakeholders’ rights and obligations, besides
listing the duties and tasks of the authority.
Federal courts have the responsibility to deal with
any criminal offences committed against, or onboard,
any aircraft registered in Ethiopia, wherever the
aircraft may be. They are also empowered to see to
any offence committed within the country’s
territory, irrespective of the nationality of the
aircraft.
An offense committed aboard an aircraft in flight
outside Ethiopia, but which lands in Ethiopia with
an alleged offender on board, will be deemed to have
occurred in Ethiopia.
According to the Draft Bill, any foreign civil air
craft not engaged in scheduled international air
service is not allowed to fly across, or into, the
air space of Ethiopia and make stops without
notifying the authority in advance. A breach of this
would result in a fine of 15,000 dollars, according
to the draft.
Any person who, on board a civil aircraft,
unlawfully and intentionally smokes anywhere,
including in the lavatories; or operates a portable
electronic device when such act is prohibited, will
be liable to a fine not exceeding 15,000 Br.
And a person will be liable to a fine of 100,000 Br,
for the intentional removal, concealment or
withholding of any part of a civil aircraft involved
in an accident, and without authority, or any
property which was aboard such air craft at the time
of the accident.
The proposed Aviation Proclamation Bill has been
sent to the Infrastructures Affairs Standing
Committe for further deliberation.
Aviation activity started 70 years ago in the
emperor’s time. Ethiopia was one of the founders of
the international aviation in 1944.
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