In his capacity as the Depositary of multilateral air law treaties, the Secretary General of ICAO would like to encourage the participation of States in the third ICAO Treaty Event, which will be held on 23 and 24 September 2025 at ICAO Headquarters in Montréal in the margins of the 42nd Session of the ICAO Assembly.
This Treaty Event will take place under the theme “Strengthening the Rule of Law in International Civil Aviation – Addressing all Challenges”. In this regard, it should be highlighted that ICAO’s Long Term Strategic Plan for 2026-2050, which was endorsed by the Council in March 2025, includes a new Strategic Goal for the Organization namely, “The International Civil Aviation Convention and other Treaties, Laws and Regulations address all Challenges”.
In furtherance of the Strategic Goal, the Treaty Event will be held with a view to promoting the universal acceptance of multilateral air law treaties for which ICAO acts as depositary by providing special facilities for representatives of Member States, in the margins of the Assembly, for depositing instruments of ratification or accession to those treaties.
The upcoming Treaty Event will focus on facilitating the deposit of instruments of ratification or accession to, among others:
- the Montreal Convention of 1999;
- the Beijing Convention of 2010;
- the Beijing Protocol of 2010;
- the Montréal Protocol of 2014;
- the 2016 Protocols amending Articles 50(a) and 56 of the Chicago Convention;
- the 1995 Protocol amending the Chicago Convention [Final Paragraph, Arabic Text]; and
- the 1998 Protocol amending the Chicago Convention [Final Paragraph, Chinese Text].
States are encouraged to make use of the Treaty Event by depositing instruments of ratification or accession to the above-mentioned treaties or any other treaty for which ICAO acts as Depositary.
Kindly note that a complete list of air law treaties deposited with the Organization as well as forms indicating the individual ratification status of each State with respect to international air law instruments is available on the ICAO Treaty Collection Website. Administrative packages for the ratification of international air law instruments, which include model instruments of ratification, are also made available on the above-mentioned website.
States who wish to participate in the 2025 Treaty Event should inform the Legal Affairs and External Relations Bureau (LEB) of ICAO by 1 September 2025, so that the necessary arrangements/appointments may be made (email: treaty@icao.int; telephone: +1 514 315-3505).
Alternatively, States may also wish to use the facilities provided by the Treaty Event to seek an appointment with LEB in order to discuss their current status with regard to international air law instruments.
