Security Council Resolution 2309 (2016) [on Terrorist Threats to Civil Aviation]

S/RES/2309 (2016)No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Security Council, under agenda item 31Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, published in 2016.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Attacks on Aircraft Aviation Security Counter-Terrorism International Cooperation Terrorism

What does this mandate say?

19 operative paragraphs

Affirms that all States have the responsibility to protect the security of citizens and nationals of all nations against terrorist attacks on air services operating within their territory, in a manner consistent with existing obligations under international law;

Affirms also that all States have an interest to protect the safety of their own citizens and nationals against terrorist attacks conducted against international civil aviation, wherever these may occur, in accordance with international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law;

Notes that Annex 17 — Security to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, done at Chicago on December 7, 1944 (the “Chicago Convention”), provides that contracting States shall develop and implement regulations, practices, and procedures to safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference and to ensure that such measures are capable of responding rapidly to meet any increased security threat, and further notes that Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention establishes additional standards to safeguard international civil aviation against unlawful interference, to which contracting States shall conform in accordance with the Chicago Convention, and that Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention also provides recommended practices, and that both standards and recommended practices are supported by detailed guidance on their effective implementation;

Welcomes and supports the work of ICAO to ensure that all such measures are continuously reviewed and adapted to meet the ever-evolving global threat picture, and calls upon ICAO, within its mandate, to continue and enhance its efforts to establish compliance with international aviation security standards through effective implementation on the ground, and to assist Member States in this regard;

Calls upon all States to work within ICAO to ensure that its international security standards are reviewed and adapted to effectively address the threat posed by terrorist targeting of civil aviation, to strengthen and promote the effective application of ICAO standards and recommended practices in Annex 17, and to assist ICAO to continue to enhance audit, capacity development and training programmes in order to support their implementation;

Further calls upon all States, as part of their efforts to prevent and counter terrorist threats to civil aviation and acting consistent with relevant international legal instruments and framework documents, to:

Ensure that effective, risk-based measures are in place at the airports within their jurisdiction, including through enhancing screening, security checks, and facility security, to detect and deter terrorist attacks against civil aviation and to review and assess such measures regularly and thoroughly to ensure that they reflect the ever-evolving threat picture and are in accordance with ICAO standards and recommended practices;

Take all necessary steps to ensure that these measures are effectively implemented on the ground on a continuing and sustainable basis, including through the provision of the required resources, the use of effective quality control and oversight processes, and the promotion of an effective security culture within all organizations involved in civil aviation;

Ensure that such measures take into account the potential role of those with privileged access to areas, knowledge or information that may assist terrorists in planning or conducting attacks;

Urgently address any gaps or vulnerabilities that may be highlighted by ICAO or national self-risk assessment or audit processes;

Strengthen security screening procedures and maximize the promotion, utilization and sharing of new technologies and innovative techniques that maximize the capability to detect explosives and other threats, as well as strengthening cooperation and collaboration and sharing experience in regards to developing security check technologies;

Further engage in dialogue on aviation security and cooperate by sharing information, to the extent possible, about threats, risks, and vulnerabilities, by collaborating on specific measures to address them and by facilitating, on a bilateral basis, mutual assurance about the security of flights between their territories;

Require that airlines operating in their territories provide advance passenger information to the appropriate national authorities in order to detect the departure from their territories, or attempted entry into or transit through their territories, by means of civil aircraft, of individuals designated by the Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015);

Urges States able to do so to assist in the delivery of effective and targeted capacity development, training and other necessary resources, technical assistance, technology transfers and programmes, where it is needed to enable all States to achieve the outcomes set out above, in particular with regards to paragraphs 6 (b) and 6 (e);

Calls upon all States to strengthen their international and regional cooperation to strengthen information-sharing, border control, law enforcement and criminal justice to better counter the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters and returnees;

Urges all States to ensure that all their relevant domestic departments, agencies and other entities work closely and effectively together on matters of aviation security;

Encourages continued cooperation between ICAO and the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) on identifying gaps and vulnerabilities relevant to aviation security, welcomes also the cooperation between ICAO and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force to facilitate the delivery of technical assistance and capacity building in the field of aviation security, encourages closer cooperation between ICAO and the Counter-Terrorism Committee and CTED, and requests CTED to continue to work with ICAO to address aviation security in all relevant CTED activities and reports, in particular country assessments;

Requests the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) to hold a Special Meeting within 12 months, in cooperation with ICAO, on the issue of terrorist threats to civil aviation, and invites the Secretary-General of ICAO and the Chair of the CTC to brief the Council on the outcomes of this meeting in 12 months time;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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