THE CHICAGO CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL CIvIL AVIATION OF 1944: CATALYST TO OR DESTROYER OF INCENTIVES FOR MULTILATERAL AIR SERVICES?

It is trite law that treaties and conventions are the most common sources of international law and ipso facto, sources of air law. Treaties may be bilateral or multilateral. They represent the assertion or expression of free sovereign will by states arrived at sometimes after intense negotiation and horse-trading. During the Second World War, it became clear that aviation needed to be organized on a worldwide basis, rather than regional basis. President Roosevelt, upon the realization of a necessity for the provision of a sound basis for the organization of civil aviation after the war, invited a large number of governments to attend a conference in Chicago. Fifty-two governments attended.