The Paris International Air Navigation Conference of 1910, also known as the Conférence internationale de navigation aérienne, was the first

diplomatic conference Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

to consider formulating international law about aviation. It was proposed by the French government who were concerned about aircraft from foreign nations flying over their territory and was attended by representatives from 19 European nations. The key question considered by the conference was whether nations had the right to prevent foreign aircraft flying over their territory. Opinion was divided between those nations that wished a wide freedom of movement for aircraft and those that, for reasons of national security, wished to control which aircraft crossed into their country. The conference went into recess in June 1910 but did not reconvene due to differences of opinion and then later the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Hence, no agreement was signed. Its deliberations, however, influenced the development of international aviation law.

Background

In 1908, France became concerned about the regulation of aviation after at least 10 German balloons crossed into French territory carrying more than 25

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s of whom the majority were German officers. The following year, French Minister of the Interior, Georges Clemenceau, issued an order for local authorities to hold any balloons that came their way, detain them to collect customs duties, and to make enquiries as to the purpose of their flight. Although there had been rulings in domestic courts relating to trespassing balloons, and the dropping of munitions from balloons had been previously included in the International Peace Conference of 1899, at the time of the conference in 1910 there was no international law in place about aviation and flights were largely unregulated. In the previous year,

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of th ...

used an aircraft to fly across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

from France to England, without any thought of the legal or diplomatic consequences. During this time, Germany was testing its early

Zeppelins A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

and flying them over Switzerland without any permission from the Swiss. Subsequently, French concerns about control of their airspace led them to call for the 1910 conference to develop international regulations covering aviation. At the same time, they aimed to consider the fundamental question of who had the right to fly over a nation's territory.

Attendees

In attendance were representatives of 19 European nations; Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. More distant countries such as the United States were deemed unable to fly as far as Europe, and so not invited to participate. A questionnaire was sent to each representative prior to the conference in order to establish their preliminary views, however, it avoided the topic of air sovereignty. This question was later added to the conference programme in the same layout as stated in the German preliminary response.

The Conference

The conference was the first political effort to develop the doctrines of international law relating to aerial navigation. Delegates disagreed about the right of foreign aircraft to fly over national territory. Germany and France supported the idea of wide freedom and national treatment of foreign aircraft. This view was opposed by Britain, Austria-Hungary and Russia, who backed the view there should be complete sovereign right to the overlying airspace for national security reasons.

France

The French delegation was led by Louis Renault, who was also the president of the conference. Along with Germany, France supported the idea of wide freedom and national treatment of foreign aircraft. However, the French Government held the opinion of

Paul Fauchille Paul Auguste Joseph Fauchille (11 February 1858 – 9 February 1926) was a French lawyer and scholar, best remembered as a pioneer of air law. He was born in Loos, France, and studied law in Douai and at the University of Paris. An advocate a ...

who stated that "Air navigation is free. Nevertheless subjacent States reserve rights necessary to their self-preservation; that is, to their own security and that of the persons and goods of their inhabitants."

Germany

Germany had consulted Ferdinand von Zeppelin prior to accepting the invitation, and completed a thorough preliminary document before the conference commenced. They were clear that freedom of airspace was their proposal.

United Kingdom

The British held the view that there should be complete sovereign right to the overlying airspace for national security reasons. They did not uphold the opinions of British professor of international law

John Westlake John Westlake may refer to: * John Westlake (law scholar) John Westlake (4 February 1828 – 14 April 1913) was an English law scholar. Biography He was born at Lostwithiel, Cornwall, the son of a Cornish wool-stapler. He was educated at Lostw ...

, who although held the same view to some extent, also advocated the right of innocent passage.

Italy

The Italian delegates endorsed prohibited zones on a military basis.

Russia

Russia endorsed free landing, but the need for prohibited zones. It requested that further discussions take place on the question of the rights of a sovereign State in the airspace above its territory.

Belgium

Clarification as to the rights to the airspace above their lands and waters was requested by Belgium.

Agreement

By the time the conference adjourned, delegates had agreed the terms of a draft agreement covering: *Nationality, registration and certificates for aircraft *Licenses and logbooks for crew *Rules of the road *Transport of explosives *Aircraft equipment *Provisions for public aircraft A declaration of prohibited zones was also agreed. There was general agreement that airspace above individual states was under the control of that state and therefore that states may designate airspace zones where international flights would be prohibited.Sand, Peter H. & Jorge de Sousa Freitas & Geoffrey N. Pratt
"An Historical Survey Of International Air Law Before The Second World War".
''

McGill Law Journal The ''McGill Law Journal'' is a student-run legal publication at McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal. It is a not-for-profit corporation independent of the Faculty and it is managed exclusively by students. The ''Journal'' also publishes t ...

'', Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 29–42 (pp. 29–30). It was the question of what restrictions and to what extent these restrictions could be applied that was not largely agreed.

Conclusion and legacy

The conference went into recess on 29 June 1910 and was planned to reconvene on 29 November 1910, however, due to political differences and, later, the outbreak of the

, it never did. The conference therefore ended without a signed agreement. Despite the absence of a final agreement, an examination of the conference drafts and debates shows that it was decided, in principle, that individual nations had the right to authorise or deny flight over their territory. The conference also identified a number of issues that became significant in future aviation regulations. The

Aerial Navigation Act 1911 The Aerial Navigation Act 1911, passed by British Government, was a statute that conferred power to Parliament to close airspace over Britain including the English Channel, from foreign aircraft, when felt necessary. It was motivated by the perce ...

, passed by the British Parliament, gave Britain authority to close British airspace to all foreign aircraft and the conference's codes resurfaced in the

Paris Convention of 1919 The Paris Convention of 1919 (formally, the Convention Relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation) was the first international convention to address the political difficulties and intricacies involved in international aerial navigation. The ...

. It also influenced the

Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air trave ...

of 1944.