International Civil Aviation Organization

The International Civil Aviation Organization is a permanent international intergovernmental organization and a UN Specialized Agency, with headquarters in Montreal, established in 1947, with the entry into force of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944), which provides for a comprehensive regulation on ICAO’s membership, legal status, aims, objectives, internal structure, and functions. The ICAO has its own legal personality and, through its bodies, in particular the Assembly, the Council, the Air Navigation Commission, the Secretariat and the Legal Committee, plays a key role in ensuring safety and security, regularity, economic sustainability and efficiency of air services. Among its main competences, shall be mentioned: the adoption of international Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), which take the form of Annexes to the Chicago Convention, in relation to aircraft, personnel, airways and auxiliary services; the development and adoption of international conventions; and the settlement of disputes between contracting States.