Draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200-.

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A decision made (28/01/2008) regarding: Draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200-.

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2008-0010
Decision Summary Title :			Date of Decision Summary:	25 January 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Jeremy Snowdon Director of Civil Aviation (designate)		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200-Report1		Date of Written Report:	18 January 2008
Written Report Author:	Jeremy Snowdon Director of Civil Aviation (designate)		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200-
Decision(s): The Minister approved the draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200- and accompanying report and has asked that it be lodged au Greffe on 29th January 2008 for debate on 11th March 2008. The Minister also signed the Statement of Compatibility confirming that the provisions of the draft Law were compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights
Reason(s) for Decision: The draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200- separates the regulation of safety aspects of aviation in Jersey from the management and operation of Jersey Airport and creates the office of Director of Civil Aviation to provide this safety regulation. The draft Law addresses concerns expressed in an International Civil Aviation Organisation’s audit, of the United Kingdom’s Overseas Territories, about the apparent lack of independence of airport safety regulators from the airport operators. It is expected that the United Kingdom will be required to demonstrate, during the next audit, that it has made satisfactory civil aviation arrangements, to ensure compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organisations standards and recommended practices not only in its Overseas Territories but also in its Crown Dependencies. The consultation on the draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200- is now complete.
Resource Implications: The headcount within Home Affairs will increase by one - the Director of Civil Aviation(DCA) - however as this is effected by a transfer from Economic Development (Airport) there will be no overall increase in headcount. The financial costs will be met by a licence fee, payable by Jersey Airport, which in turn will transfer its current contracts for safety advice to the DCA. The Minister has been assured that there will therefore be no financial impact on the Home Affairs budget.
Action required: The Executive Officer, Home affairs to lodge the draft Law au Greffe on 29th January 2008 for debate on 11th March 2008.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200-.

Report – Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200-

The States are asked to consider and if appropriate approve, a new Law to separate the regulation of safety aspects of aviation in Jersey from the management and operation of Jersey Airport and to create the office of Director of Civil Aviation to provide this safety regulation.

Background

Jersey is, through the United Kingdom’s ratification, a party to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation (“the Convention”) which is the international convention governing arrangements for civil aviation.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (“ICAO”), a regulatory body established under the Convention, monitors compliance with ICAO Member States’ obligations under the Convention. An audit of the United Kingdom’s arrangements for regulating international civil aviation took place in 2000.

In its report ICAO raised concerns about regulation in some of the overseas territories where, as is the case in Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies, airports are operated by the government. The United Kingdom Government has since confirmed to the governments of the Crown Dependencies that these concerns apply equally to the regulation of international civil aviation in all the Crown Dependencies.

Under the Convention, the United Kingdom is responsible for ensuring the maintenance of international standards of aviation in the Crown Dependencies, as set out in the Standards and Recommended Practices, laid down in the 18 Annexes to the Convention.

It is expected that in the course of the next audit of the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom Government will be asked to demonstrate that it has made satisfactory arrangements for ensuring the continued adherence to the Convention’s Standards and Recommended Practices in the Crown Dependencies.

The area of concern for ICAO in relation to the overseas territories, and thus by extension to the Crown Dependencies, is the apparent lack of independence of the regulator from the airport operator. The current arrangement under which both the administrative and regulatory functions at Jersey Airport are the responsibility, and are carried out by, the same authority (the Minister for Economic Development or the Airport Director under the authority of the Minister) does not meet with ICAO standards and must be changed. It is necessary to separate the functions of airport operator and regulator between two bodies.

Discussions have been held between officials from all the Crown Dependencies and the United Kingdom, from which it has emerged that the ICAO requirements would be met by a new legislative regime in which:

A local regulator is in place who is demonstrably independent of the airport operator
The advice from the local regulator has to be accepted by the airport operator and that the regulator is required to enforce the appropriate international standards
The regulator has power to enforce compliance

Accordingly, the Director of Civil Aviation will be responsible to the Minister for Home Affairs, while the Airport Director will continue to be responsible to the Minister for Economic Development.

In carrying out the functions of the office of Director of Civil Aviation, the Director will be required to act in a way best calculated to achieve compliance with the international obligations that bind Jersey in respect of the safety of civil aviation.

This means, in particular, compliance with the Chicago Convention concluded on 7th December 1944 at the International Civil Aviation Conference held in that city.

After the Law comes into force, an operator of an aerodrome (at present the States of Jersey, in the case of Jersey Airport) will be required to obtain and comply with an aerodrome licence. The Director of Civil Aviation will be the licensing authority.

The Director will also be required to tender advice to the Minister on the safety of civil aviation and international relations and commitments in respect of civil aviation.

Consultations

A consultation paper was issued to the main stakeholders on the 10th December 2007 with a closing date for comments of 20th January 2008.

Three responses were received, none of which were judged to require changes to the draft Law.

Financial/manpower implications

There are no additional manpower implications for the States resulting from this Law. The Office of the Director of Civil Aviation will be staffed by one person, the Director, being transferred from the Economic Development (Airport) headcount to Home Affairs. Once the Office is fully established and the international audit completed it is planned to reduce post of Director to a part-time one, although it may be necessary then to employ a part-time administrator/assistant.

The financial cost of the Office, including staff costs, will be met by payments by Jersey Airport, of a licence fee. Jersey Airport currently contracts with technical experts in various fields to provide regulatory advice; these contracts and the cost of same will be transferred from Jersey Airport to the Office of the Director of Civil Aviation. Overall financial cost increases will be limited to such matters as office accommodation.

European Convention on Human Rights

Article 16 of the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000 requires the Minister in charge of a Projet de Loi to make a statement about the compatibility of the provisions of the Projet with the Convention rights (as defined by Article 1 of the Law). On 28th January 2008 the Minister for Home Affairs made the following statement before Second Reading of this Projet in the States Assembly –

In the view of the Minister for Home Affairs the provisions of the Draft Civil Aviation (Jersey) Law 200- are compatible with the Convention Rights.

28th January 2008