In her capacity as the Depositary of multilateral air law treaties, the Secretary General of ICAO would like to encourage the participation of States in the inaugural ICAO Treaty Event which will be held on 24 and 25 September 2019 at ICAO Headquarters in Montréal, during the 40th Session of the ICAO Assembly.

This Treaty Event will take place under the theme “A Century of International Air Law Treaties”. The year 2019 not only marks the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago, 1944), but also marks the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Aerial Navigation (Paris, 1919) which is the historically first multilateral instrument of international law relating to air navigation.

This Event is launched with a view to promoting the ratification of multilateral air law treaties by providing special facilities for representatives of Member States, in the margins of the Assembly Session, for depositing instruments of ratification or accession.

The Treaty Event will focus on promoting the ratification/accession of the following international air law instruments:

- the Montreal Convention of 1999;
- the Beijing Convention of 2010;
- the Beijing Protocol of 2010; 
- the Montreal Protocol of 2014; and
- the 2016 Protocols amending Articles 50(a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention.

States are encouraged to make use of the Treaty Event by depositing instruments of ratification or accession to the above-mentioned treaties or any other treaty for which ICAO acts as Depositary.

Kindly note that a complete list of air law treaties deposited with the Organization as well as forms indicating the individual ratification status of each State with respect to international air law instruments is available on the ICAO Treaty Collection Website. Administrative packages for the ratification of international air law instruments which include model instruments of ratification are also made available on the above-mentioned website.

States who wish to participate in the 2019 Treaty Event should inform the Legal Affairs and External Relations Bureau (LEB) of ICAO, by 31 August 2019, so that the necessary arrangements/appointments may be made (email: treaty [at] icao.int (treaty[at]icao[dot]int); telephone: (514) 954-6090).
 
Alternatively, States may also wish to use the facilities provided by the Treaty Event to seek an appointment with LEB in order to discuss their current status with regard to international air law instruments.