Regulating Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Framework of International Law;
In the Circulation between National and International Jurisdiction
Hadi MAHMOUDI )Assistant Professor of Law, Shahid Beheshti University(
Marziye GHALANDARI )Ph.D. Candidate of International Law, Shahid Beheshti University(
Abstract
The increasing growth of new technologies provides this possibility for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enter into wider areas of the airspace of countries. They operate in various social and economic fields, commercial, agricultural, environmental, military, security, etc. Therefore, UAV activities include both civilian and military aspects. What is considered this article is to pay attention to the legal aspects of civil UAV aviation. Specifically, whether the regulation of UAVs is within the national jurisdiction of the countries, or whether the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) can regulate their activities within its jurisdiction. Since the different performance characteristics of UAVs from other aircraft and the inevitable possibility of integrating remote control UAVs operations in unsegregated airspace and airports in a short period, the need to regulate them are in urgent. Article 8 of the Chicago Convention (1944) pays attention to pilotless aircraft, however, the situation of UAVs in this convention is vague. Therefore, due to some ambiguities and shortcomings as well as the functional characteristics of UAVs, it is necessary to enquire whether the flight of UAVs should be under the jurisdiction of the domestic system of States or that ICAO can take steps to coordinate and regularize issues related to UAVs which is the main core of this article.