Foreword
(by the Hon. C.G. Weeramantry, Judge and Vice President, International Court of Justice)

It gives me much pleasure to write a Foreword to the latest work of Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne, a scholar who has made a significant contribution to the literature on international aviation law.

This work of Abeyratne looks far into the future and addresses numerous questions which may seem futuristic or inconsequential now, but are certain to be of growing importance as tourism increases and airline passenger traffic reaches unprecedented levels.

At an individual level, he analyses in depth such questions as mental injury, unruly passengers, the spread of tuberculosis in aircraft cabins and the impact of turbulence on passengers.  At a global level, he makes a survey of the aviation industry in different regions, and has valuable insights to offer on the vast range of problems peculiar to each region which need attention. The book thus traverses the whole fascinating field of aviation law, from micro to macro level, offering the reader a valuable synthesis of the principles applicable.

Many of the subjects treated, especially those relating to injuries, require a mastery of the principles of domestic law, as well as of the relevant principles and conventions of international aviation law.  Dr. Abeyratne has examined both in depth, and integrated the applicable principles in a manner useful to all practitioners.  This fast developing area of international law can turn out to be an important source of claims and litigation, domestically as well.  Matters such as these will not infrequently come within the range of work of the average legal practitioner who has not, thus far, had occasion to pay more than passing attention to them. Indeed, aviation law furnishes an apt illustration of the way in which legal practice in the future will be transformed in a manner requiring a combined knowledge of domestic and international law. This book serves this need extremely well.

The book also grapples with sophisticated information-based problems of the future such as problems of slot allocation and functioning of computer reservation systems on the Internet.  It also moves into traditional areas of public international law as when it addresses problems related to refugees and inadmissible passengers.

The new Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, signed on 28 May 1999 by the Contracting States of the International Civil Aviation Organization, was intended to make a fundamental change in private air carrier liability.  It heralded the need for a fresh approach to this problem which is as old as the aviation industry itself.

This book fills the need for a new approach to air carrier liability problems which is consonant with the requirements of the new regime instituted by the Convention.

Throughout the book there runs the principle that the survival of airlines is dependent on service and its improvement.  The book underlines the fact that service, however good it may be in some departments, is quite inadequate except in the context of quality aircraft.

An improvement of service is not  however, necessarily restricted to a few mega-carriers.  Smaller carriers can also offer comparable services.  This book, through its insightful analysis of the problems of the industry, especially in its legal aspects, will be invaluable to all carriers in showing them how best they can bring their entire services into line with customer expectation and, in particular, with the latest requirements of the law.

This comprehensive survey of the entire field by an able scholar, whose specialization in air law has already earned him much description, will be a leading contribution, both to the literature on aviation law and to a better understanding of the manner in which the problems attendant on the airline industry can be addressed and overcome.  It is a work of great value, not only to the international lawyer and the specialist in aviation law, but also to the domestic lawyer, and to all those who are involved in the aviation industry.  It is also true to its title, in that it charts out long-term trends in one of the most rapidly moving spheres of international activity.

I commend this volume and wish it the special success that it deserves.
 
 

C.G. Weeramantry
Judge and Vice President
International Court of Justice
The Hague
 

11 February 2000

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