Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal

Convention Arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom

Facts:

 the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya filed in the Registry of the Court
two Applications instituting proceedings against the USA and the United
Kingdom, in respect of a dispute over the interpretation and application of the
Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil
Aviation signed in Montreal on 23 September 1971 (the Montreal Convention).
The dispute arose from the crash of Pan Am flight 103 at Lockerbie (United
Kingdom) on 21 December 1988, an incident caused by a bomb placed aboard
the Pan-Am flight. Libya contended that, by pressuring Libya to surrender the two
Libyan nationals for trial in the United Kingdom or the United States, the two
respondent States were violating the Montreal Convention.

Libya then claimed that the acts alleged constituted an offence regarding Article
1 of the Montreal Convention, which it claimed to be the only appropriate
Convention in force between the Parties, and asserted that it had fully complied
with its own obligations under that instrument, Article 5 of which required a State
to establish its own jurisdiction over alleged offenders present in its territory in the
event of their non-extradition.

Libya contended that the United States of America and the United Kingdom were
in breach of the Montreal Convention through rejection of its efforts to resolve the
matter within the framework of international law, including the Convention itself,
in that they were placing pressure upon Libya to surrender the two Libyan
nationals for trial. It also considered that there was a more specific dispute
concerning the interpretation and application of Art. 7 of the Montreal
Convention, which regulates prosecution in case of unlawful acts against civil
aviation, and of Art. 11, which provides for mutual assistance by the parties to the
Montreal Convention in criminal proceedings.

Issue:
Whether or not the destruction of the Pan Am aircraft over Lockerbie was
governed by the Montreal Convention

Ruling:

Yes, The court declared that it had jurisdiction on the basis of Article 14,
paragraph 1, of that Convention to hear the disputes between Libya and the
respondent States concerning the interpretation or application of the provisions of
the Convention. However, the parties jointly notified the Court that they had
agreed to discontinue with prejudice the proceedings of the case.