Aircraft arrest and the tensions between the Cape Town convention and Brussels regulation

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with two main aspects pertaining to aviation law; the warrant of arrest as a means of securing a claim; and the Cape Town Convention as an international framework intended to regularise the field of aircraft finance on an international basis. The overhaul to aviation law brought about by Act VIII of 2010 was pivotal in enhancing Malta’s role as a game player in the aviation field. This Act introduced the Aircraft Registration Act together with the Cape Town Convention as acceded to by Malta in the First Schedule. Arrest provisions relating to aircraft where introduced to the COCP for the first time. This thesis will discuss the procedural requirements to obtain a warrant of arrest over aircraft locally, whether in its executive or precautionary manner whilst also delving into counter warrants as a means through which an arrest warrant can be lifted. The second part of this thesis will focus on international aspects and discusses the CTC as a multinational approach towards aircraft security. This thesis will explore the default remedies emanating from the Convention that creditors can opt to make use of. The discussion will move on to inquire about the complex system of declarations that surround the CTC and the effects it has on transactions and claims occurring in Contracting States. The focus of discussion will be on Article 13 of the CTC and Article 35 of the Brussels I (recast) Regulation subject to the declarations made by the EC when it acceded to the Convention. The overlap between the two will be discussed in relation to the local judgments given in the Wind Jet Cases and the questions that have arisen as a result.