Air Navigation and Transport Act , 1936

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1936.

2 Definitions.

2.—(1) In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

the expression “the Paris Convention” means the International Convention relating to the regulation of aerial navigation done at Paris on the 13th day of October, 1919, and includes any amendment to the said Convention which may be made under Article 34 thereof;

the expression “the Warsaw Convention” means the International Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air which was signed at Warsaw on the 12th day of October, 1929, and came into force in respect of Saorstát Eireann on the 19th day of December, 1935;

the expression “the Rome Convention” means the International Convention for the unification of certain rules relating to damage caused by aircraft to third parties on the surface which was signed at Rome on the 29th day of May, 1933, and includes any amendment to the said Convention to which Saorstát Eireann is a party;

the word “aircraft” includes all balloons, whether fixed or free, kites, gliders, airships and flying machines;

the word “airship” means an aircraft using gas lighter than air as a means of support, and having means of propulsion;

the word “balloon” means an aircraft using gas lighter than air as a means of support and having no means of propulsion;

the word “seaplane” includes a flying boat and any other aircraft designed to manuvre on the waters;

the expression “State aircraft” means military aircraft and every aircraft exclusively employed in State services, including postal, customs, and police services;

the expression “Saorstát Eireann aircraft” means aircraft registered in Saorstát Eireann;

the expression “foreign aircraft” means aircraft which is registered in a country other than Saorstát Eireann;

the word “goods” includes mails and animals;

the word “aerodrome” means any definite and limited area (including water) intended to be used, either wholly or in part, for or in connection with the landing or departure of aircraft;

the word “land” includes land covered with water, any harbour, any part of the territorial waters of Saorstát Eireann, foreshore, any easement, water-right, fishing right or other of whatsoever kind right in over or in respect of land or water, but does not include land which belongs to Saorstát Eireann by virtue of Article 11 of the Constitution; the expression “policy of insurance” includes a covering note;

the expression “the Company” means the Company to be formed and registered under Part VIII of this Act;

the expression “subsidiary company” means an air transport company in which more than one half of the issued share capital thereof is held by the Company;

the expression “local authority” means a body which is—

(a) the council of a county or other borough, or

(b) the council of a county, or

(c) the council of an urban district;

the expressions “conservancy authority” and “harbour authority” have the same meanings respectively as in section 742 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;

the word “prescribed” where it occurs in Part II of this Act means prescribed by order made by the Executive Council under the said Part II;

the word “prescribed” (except in Part II of this Act) means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

(2) References in this Act to any country or territory (including Saorstát Eireann) shall, unless the context otherwise requires be construed as including reference to the territorial waters (if any) adjacent to such country or territory.

3 Application of Act to State aircraft.

3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, this Act (except Part III thereof) shall not apply to any State aircraft.

(2) The Executive Council may by order direct that such provisions of this Act (except Part III thereof) or any order or regulations made thereunder as may be specified in such order shall, with or without modifications, apply to State aircraft, and whenever any such order is made and is in force, such of the said provisions as may be specified in such order shall, subject to such modifications (if any) as may be specified therein, have the force of law in Saorstát Eireann.

4 Saving for lighthouse authorities.

4.—Nothing in this Act or any order or regulation made thereunder shall prejudice or affect the rights, powers or privileges of any general or local lighthouse authority.

5 General provisions in relation to Orders made by the Executive Council.

5.—(1) An order made by the Executive Council under this Act may be made applicable to any aircraft in or over Saorstát Eireann or to Saorstát Eireann aircraft wherever they may be.

(2) An order made by the Executive Council under this Act may authorise the Minister to make regulations for carrying out the purposes of such order in respect of such matters and things as may be specified in such order.

(3) An order made by the Executive Council under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Executive Council to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of such order.

(4) An order made by the Executive Council under this Act may provide that any breach or contravention of such order shall be an offence triable summarily and prescribe the punishments which may be inflicted by courts of summary jurisdiction on persons convicted by such courts of any such offence, but so that no such punishment shall exceed imprisonment for a term of six months or a fine of two hundred pounds or both such imprisonment and fine.

(5) The Executive Council may by order under this sub-section revoke or amend any order made by the Executive Council under this Act including an order made under this sub-section.

(6) Every order made by the Executive Council under this Act shall be laid before Dáil Eireann as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such order is passed by Dáil Eireann within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which Dáil Eireann has sat after such order is so laid before Dáil Eireann, such order shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.

6 Regulations.

6.—The Minister may by order make regulations in relation to—

(a) any matter or thing referred to in this Act (except Part II thereof) as prescribed;

(b) any matter or thing in respect of which the Minister is authorised, by an order made by the Executive Council under this Act, to make regulations for carrying out the purposes of such order;

(c) any matter or thing which the Minister is by this Act authorised to prescribe by regulations made under this Act.

7 Fees.

7.—The following provisions shall have effect in relation to all fees payable under this Act, that is to say:—

(a) such fees shall be collected in money and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct, and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance; and

(b) the Public Offices (Fees) Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees.

8 Repeal of Air Navigation Act, 1920.

8.—The Air Navigation Act, 1920, is hereby repealed.

9 Expenses.

9.—All expenses incurred by the Minister for Finance in the execution of this Act and all expenses so incurred by the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, and the Minister, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, shall, if not otherwise provided for under this Act, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART II. Provisions in relation to the Paris Convention.

10 Power to give effect to the Paris Convention.

10.—The Executive Council may from time to time make such orders as appear to them necessary or expedient for carrying out the Paris Convention and for giving effect thereto or to any of the provisions thereof, and every such order shall have the force of law in Saorstát Eireann.

11 Power to apply Paris Convention to internal flying.

11.—The Executive Council may from time to time by order direct that the provisions of the Paris Convention for the time being in force, or any of them, and whether or not those provisions are limited to aircraft of any special description or engaged in any special kind of navigation, shall apply to or in relation to any aircraft in or over Saorstát Eireann and whenever any such order is made such of the said provisions as are specified in such order shall apply to or in relation to any aircraft in or over Saorstát Eireann.

12 Special provisions which may be made by Order of the Executive Council.

12.—Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by the two immediately preceding sections, the Executive Council may by order made under either of the said sections make provision—

(a) prescribing the authority by which any of the powers exercisable under the Paris Convention by a contracting State or by any authority therein are to be exercised in Saorstát Eireann;

(b) for the licensing, inspection, and regulation of aerodromes, for access to aerodromes and places where aircraft have landed, for access to aircraft factories for the purpose of inspecting the work therein carried on, for prohibiting or regulating the use of unlicensed aerodromes, and for the licensing of personnel employed at aerodromes in the inspection or supervision of aircraft;

(c) as to the manner and conditions of the issue and renewal of any certificate or licence required by the order or by the Paris Convention, including the examination and tests to be undergone, and the form, custody, production, cancellation, suspension, endorsement and surrender of any such certificate or licence;

(d) as to the registration of aircraft in Saorstát Eireann;

(e) as to the conditions under which aircraft may be used for carrying passengers and goods;

(f) as to the conditions under which aircraft may pass, or passengers or goods may be conveyed by aircraft, into or from Saorstát Eireann or from one part of Saorstát Eireann to another;

(g) exempting from the provisions of the order or of the Paris Convention, or any of them, aircraft flown for experimental purposes, or any other aircraft or persons where it appears that the same should not apply;

(h) prescribing the scales of charges at licensed aerodromes;

(i) appointing any area to be a prohibited area for the purposes of the order;

(j) prescribing the fees to be paid in respect of the grant of any certificate or licence or otherwise for the purposes of the order or the Paris Convention;

(k) supplementing the Paris Convention, in such manner as appears necessary or convenient by regulations designed to promote the safety of aircraft and of persons and property carried therein, and to prevent aircraft endangering other persons and property;

(l) for the control and regulation of aerial lighthouses, lights at or in the neighbourhood of aerodromes and aerial lighthouses and lights which are liable to endanger aircraft;

(m) regulating the making of signals and other communications by or to aircraft and persons carried therein, and regulating the use of any ensign established for purposes connected with air navigation;

(n) prescribing any matter or thing referred to in this Part of this Act as prescribed.

13 Power to compel compliance when aircraft disobeys signals.

13.—If any aircraft flies or attempts to fly over any area appointed as a prohibited area under or by virtue of an order made under this Part of this Act or enters or attempts to enter Saorstát Eireann in contravention of any such order, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) it shall be lawful for any officer designated for the purpose by such order to cause such signal as may be prescribed by such order to be given, and

(b) if, after such signal has been given, the aircraft fails to respond to such signal by complying with the provisions of such order prescribing the action to be taken on such signal being given, it shall be lawful for such officer to fire at or into such aircraft and to use any and every other means at his disposal to compel compliance;

(c) no action or other legal proceedings whatsoever, whether civil or criminal, shall be instituted in any court in Saorstát Eireann in respect of the doing of anything authorised to be done by any such officer under this section, whether such thing is done personally or by a person acting in aid; of or under the direction of such officer.

14 Expenses of International Commission for Air Navigation, etc.

14.—Any sums required for the contribution from Saorstát Eireann for the organisation and operations of the International Commission for Air Navigation set up under the Paris Convention, or occasioned by the sending of delegations, shall be paid by the Minister out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

15 Continuance of orders and regulations made under Part I of the Air Navigation Act, 1920.

15.—Every order and regulation made under Part I of the Air Navigation Act, 1920, and in force at the passing of this Act shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be made under this Part of this Act and may accordingly be amended or revoked by an order of the Executive Council, and, until so revoked and subject to any such amendment, shall continue in force.

16 Continuance of existing certificates and licences.

16.—Every certificate and licence granted under the Air Navigation Act, 1920, or under any order or regulations made thereunder and in force at the date of the passing of this Act shall continue in force and shall be deemed, for all purposes, to have been granted under this Act or such order or regulation.

PART III. Carriage by Air.

CHAPTER I. International Carriage by Air.

17 Warsaw Convention to have the force of law in Saorstát Eireann.

17.—(1) The provisions of the Warsaw Convention as set out in the First Schedule to this Act shall, so far as they relate to the rights and liabilities of carriers, passengers, consignors, consignees and other persons, and subject to the provisions of this section and the next following section, have the force of law in Saorstát Eireann in relation to any carriage by air to which the Warsaw Convention applies, irrespective of the nationality of the aircraft performing that carriage.

(2) The Executive Council may by order from time to time certify who are the High Contracting Parties to the Warsaw Convention, in respect of what territories they are respectively parties, and to what extent they have availed themselves of the Additional Protocol to the Warsaw Convention, and any such order shall, except in so far as it has been superseded by a subsequent order under this sub-section, be conclusive evidence of the matters so certified.

(3) Any reference in the First Schedule to this Act to the territory of any High Contracting Party to the Warsaw Convention shall be construed as a reference to the territories subject to his sovereignty, suzerainty, mandate or authority, in respect of which he is a party.

(4) Any sum in francs mentioned in Article 22 of the First Schedule to this Act shall, for the purposes of an action against the carrier, be converted into the currency of Saorstát Eireann at the rate of exchange prevailing on the date on which the amount of any damages to be paid by the carrier is ascertained by the court.

(5) For the purposes of this section references to agents in the First Schedule to this Act shall be construed as including references to servants.

18 Liability of carrier in the event of the death of a passenger.

18.—Any liability imposed by Article 17 of the First Schedule to this Act on a carrier in respect of the death of a passenger shall be in substitution for any liability of the carrier in respect of the death of that passenger under any statute or at common law, and the following provisions shall have effect with respect to the persons by and for whose benefit the liability so imposed is enforceable and with respect to the manner in which it may be enforced, that is to say:—

(a) the liability shall be enforceable for the benefit of such members of the passenger's family as sustained damages by reason of his death;

(b) for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this section—

(i) the expression “member of a family” means wife or husband, parent, stepparent, grandparent, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, child, stepchild, grandchild,

(ii) in deducing any relationship any illegitimate person shall be treated as being, or as having been the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father;

(c) an action to enforce the liability may be brought by the personal representative of the passenger or by any person for whose benefit the liability is under paragraph (a) of this section, enforceable, but only one action shall be brought in Saorstát Eireann in respect of the death of any one passenger and every such action by whomsoever brought shall be for the benefit of all such persons so entitled as either are resident in Saorstát Eireann or, not being resident there, express a desire to take the benefit of the action;

(d) the amount which may be recovered in any such action shall not exceed the actual and the prospective loss resulting from such death to the members of the passenger's family;

(e) subject to the provisions of paragraph (f) of this section, the amount recovered in any such action, after deducting any costs not recovered from the defendant, shall be divided between the persons entitled in such proportions as the judge before or by whom such action is tried shall determine and direct;

(f) the court before whom any such action is brought may at any stage of the proceedings make such order as appears to the court to be just and equitable in view of the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act limiting the liability of a carrier and of any proceedings which have been, or are likely to be, commenced outside Saorstát Eireann in respect of the death of the passenger in question.

19 Actions against High Contracting Parties who undertake carriage by air.