On 10 September 2010, in Beijing, the ICAO Diplomatic Conference on Aviation Security adopts the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation — the Beijing Convention.

The treaty, concluded on the eve of the September 11 anniversary, criminalises using aircraft as weapons, attacks with dangerous materials on aircraft or ground targets, and the illegal transport of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

The depositary is the ICAO Secretary General. Entry into force: 1 July 2018, after the twenty-second instrument of ratification. Over 40 parties.

The same conference also adopted the Protocol Supplementary to the Hague Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft.

For counter-terrorism air law, 10 September 2010 marks the Beijing signature.

The text is on the ICAO website and in UNTS.

The Beijing Convention of 10 September 2010 remains the milestone modernising the Montreal/Hague framework.

Image: Beijing / aviation; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Beijing Convention. Treaty text: ICAO — Beijing Convention.