CHAPTER
284
CIVIL AVIATION |
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS |
PART I
PRELIMINARY |
SECTION |
|
|
PART II
FUNCTIONS OF THE MINISTER |
|
Minister to be corporation sole. |
PART III
REGULATION OF CIVIL AVIATION |
General power of the Minister to make regulations
relating to Civil Aviation. |
PART IV
AERODROMES AND OBSTRUCTIONS |
Power to establish and maintain aerodromes. |
Minister's power in relation to buildings likely
to cause obstructions. |
Trespassing on aerodromes. |
PART V
LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY AIRCRAFT |
Nuisance and liability for damage. |
Nuisance caused by aircraft on aerodromes. |
Responsibility where aircraft hired out, etc. |
PART VI
DETENTION OF AIRCRAFT |
Exemption from seizure of certain aircraft on
patent claims. |
|
PART VII
MISCELLANEOUS |
Application of Act and regulations. |
|
|
Liability of directors and officers of
corporation. |
Regulations may empower the making of subsidiary
legislation. |
|
|
SCHEDULE - Enactments Repealed. |
CHAPTER 284 |
CIVIL AVIATION |
An Act to
amend and consolidate the law relating to civil aviation. | 8 of 1976
14 of 1977
24 of 1989
21 of 2001 |
[Assent 13th August,
1976]
[Commencement 7th October, 1976] |
PART I
PRELIMINARY |
1. This Act may be cited as the Civil Aviation Act. | Short title. |
2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires- | Interpretation. |
"accident"
includes any fortuitous or unexpected event by which the safety of an aircraft
or any person is threatened; |
"aerial
work" means any purpose other than public transport, for which an aircraft
is flown if hire or reward is given or promised in respect of the flight or the
purpose of the flight; |
"aerodrome"
means a defined area on land or water (including any buildings, installations
and equipment) intended to be used, either wholly or in part, for the arrival,
departure and movement of aircraft; |
"aircraft"
means any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions
of the air, other than the reactions of the air against the earth's surface; |
"air
navigation services" means- |
(a) communication
services, whether ground to air or ground to ground, provided for the safety of
aircraft; and |
(b) navigational
services, that is to say, radio, radar and visual aids to navigation; and |
(c) air traffic
services provided for the safety of aircraft; and |
(d) meteorological
services provided for the safety of aircraft and for the regularity of flight; |
"cargo"
means movable property carried in aircraft; |
"the Chicago
Convention" means the Convention on International Civil Aviation concluded
at Chicago on the seventh December, 1944, and to which The Bahamas has adhered
to on the twenty-sixth June, 1975, and includes the international standards and
recommended practices and procedures adopted by the International Civil
Aviation Organisation under Article 37 of the Convention; |
"crew"
includes every person employed or engaged in an aircraft in flight on the business
of the aircraft; |
"Director"
means the Director of Civil Aviation; |
"domestic
animal" means the male, female or young of any animal of the following
kinds, namely, horse, ass, mule, cattle, sheep, goat or pig; |
"Government
aerodrome" means an aerodrome under the control of the Government of the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas; |
"Minister"
means the Minister responsible for Civil Aviation; |
"owner"
means, in relation to an aircraft or aerodrome the person in whose name the
aircraft or aerodrome is registered or licensed, and includes any person who is
or has been acting as agent in The Bahamas for a foreign owner, or any person
by whom the aircraft or aerodrome is hired at the time; |
"public
transport" means the carriage of passengers or cargo for hire or reward. |
(2) Any reference
in this Act to goods or articles shall be construed as including a reference to
mails and animals. |
PART II
FUNCTIONS OF THE MINISTER |
3. The Minister shall have the general duty of organising,
carrying out and encouraging measures for the development of civil aviation,
for the promotion of safety and efficiency in the use of civil aircraft and for
research into questions relating to air navigation. | Functions of Minister. |
4. The Minister shall as respects the functions
assigned to him by or under this Act, be a corporation sole with power to
acquire, hold and dispose of property, enter into contracts, to sue and be sued
and to do all things necessary for the purposes of this Act, and all property
which becomes vested in him by this or any other Act shall be held by him in
trust for the Government of The Bahamas for the purposes of this Act. | Minister to be corporation sole. |
PART III
REGULATION OF CIVIL AVIATION |
5. (1) The Minister may make such regulations as he
considers necessary or expedient to give effect and for the better carrying out
of the objects and purposes of this Act, to provide generally for regulating
air navigation and air transport and for carrying out and giving effect to the
Chicago Convention. | General power of the Minister to make regulations
relating to civil aviation. |
(2) Without
prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may make
regulations making provision for- |
(a) the
licensing by the Minister of the use of aircraft- |
(i) for
public transport; and |
(ii) for
flying undertaken for the purpose of aerial work; |
(b) the
establishment of a Board to be known as the Air Transport Advisory Board to
advise the Minister on the licensing matters referred to in paragraph (a); |
(c) appeals
from the decisions of the Minister by persons aggrieved by such decisions to
the Supreme Court on questions of law alone and for prescribing the procedure
and otherwise regulating such appeals; |
(d) the
registration and marking of aircraft in The Bahamas; |
(e) prohibiting
the flying of any aircraft- |
(i) unless
there is in force in respect of such aircraft a certificate of air worthiness
or permit to fly issued or recognised in accordance with regulations made under
this Act; and |
(ii) except
upon compliance with such conditions as to maintenance and repair as may be
prescribed or specified in the certificate or permit; |
(f) requiring
persons performing prescribed functions in relation to the operation or
maintenance of aircraft to be the holders of licences or certificates of
specified kinds and providing for the grant, revocation, extension, validation,
suspension or variation of such licences or certificates; |
(g) prescribing
the conditions under which, and in particular the aerodromes to or from which,
aircraft entering or leaving The Bahamas may fly and the conditions under which
aircraft may fly from one part of The Bahamas to another; |
(h) prescribing
the conditions under which passengers and cargo may be carried by air and under
which aircraft may be used for other commercial, industrial or gainful
purposes, and for prohibiting the carriage by air of goods of such classes as
may be prescribed; |
(i) minimising
or preventing interference with the use or effectiveness of apparatus used in
connection with air navigation and prohibiting or regulating the use of that
apparatus and the display of signs and lights liable to endanger aircraft; |
(j) generally
securing the safety, efficiency and regularity of air navigation and the safety
of aircraft and of persons and cargo carried therein, and for preventing
aircraft endangering other persons and property; |
(k) requiring
persons engaged in, or employed in or in connection with, air navigation to
supply meteorological information for the purposes of air navigation; |
(l) regulating
the making of signals and other communications by or to aircraft and persons
carried therein; |
(m) prescribing
a civil air ensign for The Bahamas and regulating its use, and regulating the
use of any other ensign established by the Minister for purposes connected with
air navigation; |
(n) prohibiting
aircraft from flying over such areas in The Bahamas as the Minister may by
order declare to be prohibited areas; |
(o) prescribing
the fees to be paid in respect of the issue, validation, renewal, extension or
variation of any certificate, licence or other document or the undergoing of
any examination or test required by regulations made under this Act and in
respect of any other matters in respect of which it appears to the Minister to
be expedient to charge fees; |
(p) prescribing
charges or enabling some other authority to prescribe charges to be paid in
respect of air navigation services and aerodrome services including landing
fees and parking fees, and providing for the recovery of such charges; |
(q) empowering
an authority, prescribed for the purpose, to exempt any aircraft or persons
from the provisions of regulations made under this Act or any of them; |
(r) the
investigation in such manner as may be prescribed, including by means of a
tribunal established for the purpose, of any accident arising out of or in the
course of air navigation and occurring either in or over The Bahamas; |
(s) prohibiting
access to or interference with aircraft to which an accident has occurred, and
authorising any person, so far as may be necessary for the purposes of an
investigation, to have access to, remove, take measures for the preservation
of, or otherwise deal with any such aircraft; |
(t) requiring
any person who owns an aircraft or who carries on the business of operating
aircraft for hire or reward to furnish to such authorities as may be prescribed
such information relating to the aircraft, the crew, the mails, the passengers
and the cargo carried, other work performed by the aircraft, the journeys made
by the aircraft and such traffic reports, cost statistics and financial
statements showing amongst other things, all receipts and sources thereof as
may be prescribed; |
(u) licensing,
inspection and registration of aerodromes, access to aerodromes and places
where aircraft have landed or may land, access to maintenance establishments or
places where aircraft parts and engines are maintained for the purpose of
inspecting work therein carried on in relation to aircraft or parts thereof and
prohibiting or regulating the use of unlicensed aerodromes; |
(v) prescribing
the powers, including powers of arrest, that may be exercised by the members of
the crew of an aircraft, in relation to persons on board the aircraft, for the
purpose of ensuring the safety of the aircraft or its passengers, crew or cargo
or otherwise for the purposes of this Act or the regulations made under this
Act; |
(w) requiring
the installation, whether by lighting or otherwise, on any building, structure
or erection in order to secure that aircraft may be navigated with safety and
efficiency, and for all matters in connection therewith. |
(3) Different
regulations may be made for different classes of aircraft, aerodromes, persons
or property. |
(4) Subject to the
provisions of subsection (5), any regulation made under this section may
provide, in respect of contravention thereof or non-compliance therewith, for
the imposition of fines not exceeding a fine of one thousand dollars and
imprisonment for six months. |
(5)
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4), any regulations made in
pursuance of paragraphs (a) or (e) of subsection (2) may provide for the
imposition of fines not exceeding in the case of a first offence, a fine of
five thousand dollars or, in the case of a second or subsequent such offence, a
fine of ten thousand dollars and in default of payment imprisonment for a term
not exceeding two years. |
PART IV
AERODROMES AND OBSTRUCTIONS |
6. (1) The Minister may establish and maintain
aerodromes, and provide and maintain in connection therewith roads, approaches,
apparatus, equipment and buildings and other accommodations. | Power to establish and maintain aerodromes. |
(2) The Minister
may for the purpose of exercising the powers conferred by subsection (1)
acquire land or any right in or over land by agreement or in accordance with
the
Acquisition of Land Act. |
7. The Minister may, notwithstanding anything to the
contrary contained in the Buildings Regulation Act, by regulations impose
restrictions on the powers of any person to build or plant on land anything
which is likely to create an obstruction or danger to aircraft. | Minister's power in relation to buildings likely to
cause obstructions. |
8. (1) Any person who trespasses on any land forming
part of a Government aerodrome or an aerodrome licensed in pursuance of the
regulations made under this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both such fine and
imprisonment: | Trespassing on aerodromes. |
Provided that no
person shall be liable to conviction under this section unless it is proved
that, at the material time, notices warning trespassers of their liability
under this section were posted so as to be readily seen and read by members of
the public. |
(2) Any person
being the owner or for the time being having charge of a domestic animal which
trespasses in or upon a Government aerodrome or licensed aerodrome, shall be
guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction, in the case of
a first offence, to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and in the case
of a second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine
and imprisonment. |
PART V
LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY AIRCRAFT |
9. (1) No action shall lie in respect of trespass or in
respect of nuisance, by reason only of the flight of an aircraft over any
property at a height above the ground, which, having regard to wind, weather
and all the circumstances of the case is reasonable, or the ordinary incidents
of such flight, so long as the provisions of this Act and the regulations or
other subsidiary legislation made thereunder are duly complied with. | Nuisance and liability for damage. |
(2) Where material
loss or damage is caused to any person or property on land or water by, or by a
person in, or an article or person falling from, an aircraft while in flight,
taking off or landing, then unless the loss or damage was caused or contributed
to by the negligence of the person by whom it was suffered, damages in respect
of the loss or damage shall be recoverable without proof of negligence or
intention or other cause of action, as if the loss or damage had been caused by
the wilful act, neglect, or default of the owner of the aircraft: |
Provided that
where material loss or damage is caused as aforesaid in the circumstances in
which- |
(i) damages
are recoverable in respect of the said loss or damage by virtue only of the
foregoing provisions of this subsection; and |
(ii) a legal
liability is created in some persons other than the owner to pay damages in
respect of the said loss or damage, |
the owner
shall be entitled to be indemnified by that other person against any claim in
respect of the said loss or damage. |
10. (1) The Minister may make regulations under
section 5 as to the conditions under which noise and vibration may be caused by
aircraft on aerodromes or in the vicinity thereof and such regulations may
provide that subsection (2) shall apply to any aerodrome as respects which
provision as to noise and vibration caused by aircraft is so made. | Nuisance caused by aircraft on aerodromes. |
(2) No action
shall lie in respect of nuisance by reason only of the noise and vibration
caused by aircraft on an aerodrome to which this subsection applies by virtue
of subsection (1), so long as the provisions of the regulations mentioned in
that subsection are complied with, |
11. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2(1),
where an aircraft has been bona fide demised, let or hired out for any
period exceeding fourteen days to any person by the owner thereof, and during
such period no pilot, commander, navigator or operative member of the crew of
the aircraft is in the employment of the owner, this part of this Act shall
have effect as if for references therein to the owner there were substituted
references to the person to whom the aircraft has been so demised, let or hired
out. | Responsibility where aircraft hired out, etc. |
PART VI
DETENTION OF AIRCRAFT |
12. (1) Any lawful entry into The Bahamas or any
lawful transit across The Bahamas, with or without landings, of an aircraft to
which this section applies shall not entail any seizure or detention of the
aircraft or any proceedings being brought against the owner or operator thereof
or any other interferences therewith by or on behalf of any person in The
Bahamas on the ground that the construction, mechanism, parts, accessories or
operation of the aircraft is or are an infringement of any patent, design or
model. | Exemption from seizure of certain aircraft on patent
claims. |
(2) The
importation into, and storage in, The Bahamas of spare parts and spare
equipment for an aircraft to which this section applies and the use and
installation thereof in the repair of such an aircraft shall not entail any
seizure or detention of the aircraft or of the spare parts or spare equipment
or any proceedings being brought against the owner or operator of the aircraft
or the owner of the spare parts or spare equipment or any other interference
with the aircraft by or on behalf of any person in The Bahamas on the ground
that the spare parts or spare equipment or their installation are or is an
infringement of any patent, design, or model: |
Provided that this
subsection shall not apply in relation to any spare parts or spare equipment
sold or distributed in The Bahamas. |
(3) This section
applies- |
(a) to any
aircraft registered in a country or territory which is a party to the Chicago
Convention; |
(b) to such
other aircraft as the Minister may prescribe. |
13. Any regulations made under this Act may provide
for the detention and forfeiture of aircraft to secure compliance with this Act
or the regulations and may make such further provisions as appears to the
Minister to be necessary or expedient for securing such detention and
forfeiture. | Detention of aircraft. |
PART VII
MISCELLANEOUS |
14. The provisions of this Act and any regulations
shall, except where expressly excluded under this Act or such regulations, apply
to- | Application of Act and regulations. |
(a) all
aircraft whilst in or over any part of The Bahamas; and |
(b) all
aircraft registered in The Bahamas. |
15. (1) Any act or omission which takes place outside
The Bahamas in an aircraft registered in The Bahamas shall be deemed for
purposes of civil and criminal jurisdiction to have taken place in The Bahamas
and the law of The Bahamas shall have effect in relation to that act or
omission as if it had taken place in The Bahamas. | Jurisdiction. |
(2) Any offence
against this Act or against any regulations made under this Act may be tried
summarily before a stipendiary and circuit magistrate. |
16. (1) The Minister may, by writing under his hand
delegate any of his powers under this Act, other than the powers to make
regulations and prescribe orders, to a public officer. | Delegations of powers. |
(2) Any such
delegation- |
(a) may be made
subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister thinks fit; |
(b) while in
force shall not prevent the discharge by the Minister of the power thereby
delegated; and |
(c) may at any
time be revoked by the Minister. |
17. Where an offence under this Act or any regulations
made under this Act has been committed by a body corporate, every person who at
the time of the commission of the offence was a director, manager, secretary or
other similar officer of the body corporate, or was purporting to act in any
such capacity, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence unless he proves
that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance or that he
exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he
ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that
capacity and to all circumstances. | Liability of directors and officers of corporation. |
18. Any regulations made under this Act may provide
for the empowering of such authorities or persons as may be specified in the
regulations to make orders, notices, proclamations, regulations, or to give
instructions for any of the purposes for which such regulations are authorised
by this Act to be made, and may contain such incidental and supplementary
provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient. | Regulations may empower the making of subsidiary
legislation. |
19. (1) The Minister may by order, subject to any
terms or conditions prescribed therein, confer authority for the certification
of a document as a true copy of, or extract from, any record or document kept
or issued by any officer of authority or by any public officer under this Act
or any regulations or orders made as mentioned in section 20(2). | Documentary evidence. |
(2) In any legal
proceedings whatsoever, any document certified in accordance with an order
under subsection (1) shall be evidence of the matters appearing in such
documents. |
(3) Any document
purporting to be such a document as is mentioned in subsection (2) shall be
deemed to be such a document unless the contrary is proved. |
20. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the enactments
specified in the Schedule are repealed. | Repeal and transitional. |
(2)
Notwithstanding the repeal by subsection (1) of the enactments specified in the
Schedule all regulations and orders made under those enactments and in force in
The Bahamas at the commencement of this Act shall so far as they are not
inconsistent with this Act remain in force as if made under this Act, and shall
accordingly be subject to amendment or revocation by regulations made under
this Act. |
SCHEDULE (Section 20) |
ENACTMENTS
REPEALED |
1. The Civil
Aviation Act. |
2. The United
Kingdom Civil Aviation Act, 1949, as applied to The Bahamas by the Civil
Aviation 1949 (Overseas Territories) Order, 1969. |