Ghana Civil Aviation Act, 2004 (678) (As Amended)
Section 39: (1) An offence committed on an aircraft registered in the Republic shall, for the purposes of jurisdiction, be deemed to have been committed in the place where the offender is for the time being.
(2) Where a body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Act, every director, general manager, secretary or any other officer of the body corporate, or a person purporting to act in that capacity, shall be deemed to have committed that offence.
(3) A person shall not be convicted pursuant to subsection (2) where that person proves that the offence was committed without that person's consent or connivance and that due diligence was exercised to prevent the commission of the offence having regard to the circumstances.
(4) In subsection (2) "director" includes a person occupying the position of director by whatever name called and a person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director of the body corporate.
(5) A person commits an offence on board an aircraft if that person
(a) assaults, intimidates or threatens, whether physically or verbally, a crew member where the act interferes with the performance of the functions of a crew member or lessens the ability of the crew member to perform any of those functions;
(b) refuses to comply with a lawful instruction given by the person in command of the aircraft or by a crew member for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the aircraft or of a person or property on board the aircraft or for the purpose of maintaining good order and discipline on board the aircraft;
(c) does an act of physical violence against a person or sexually assaults a person or molests a child on board the aircraft;
(d) assaults, intimidates or threatens whether physically or verbally, any other person on board the aircraft, or consumes an alcoholic beverage or a drug resulting in intoxication
(i) if the act endangers or is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft or of a person on board the aircraft, or
(ii) if the act jeopardizes or is likely to jeopardize the good order and discipline on board the aircraft;
(e) causes damage to the aircraft or destruction of property on board the aircraft;
(f) smokes or tampers with a smoke detector or any other safety-related device on board the aircraft;
(g) operates a portable electronic device when that is prohibited.
(h) unlawfully or intentionally destroys an aircraft in service or causes damage to the aircraft in a manner that renders it incapable of flight or which is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft in flight,
(i) unlawfully or intentionally places or causes to be placed on an aircraft in service by any means whatsoever a device or substance that is likely to destroy that aircraft or to cause damage to the aircraft that renders it incapable of flight or that is likely to endanger the safety of the aircraft in flight; or
(j) obstructs, interferes with, destroys, steals or causes damage to a communication, navigation, surveillance system, instrument, cables or any part of the systems or instruments belonging to the Authority.[As inserted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(a)]
(6) A person on board an aircraft on ground or in flight
(a) who unlawfully, by force or threat of force, or by any other form of intimidation, seizes or exercises control of that aircraft; or
(b) who attempts to commit any of the acts referred to in paragraph (a) or abets the commission of those acts
commits the offence of hijacking of an aircraft, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life and any person who in the course of committing the offence of hijacking of an aircraft, commits, in connection with the offence, any act of violence is committed against a passenger or member of the crew of the aircraft which that person would have been liable to under any law that person is liable to any punishment in force in Ghana if the act had been committed in Ghana.[As deleted and inserted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(b)]
(7) Unless Parliament otherwise provides, the High Court exclusive original has jurisdiction
(a) to enforce a claim in respect of an aircraft;
(b) to deal with an offence which took place on board
(i) an aircraft registered in the Republic, or
(ii) an aircraft leased, with or without a crew, to an operator whose principal place of business is in the Republic, or if the operator does not have a principal place of business in the Republic, a permanent residence in the Republic, or
(iii) an aircraft in or in flight over the Republic; or
(c) to deal with an offence which took place in an aircraft in flight outside the Republic
(i) where the next landing of the aircraft is in the Republic, and
(ii) where the person in command of the aircraft delivers the suspected offender to the competent authority in the Republic with the request that the competent authority prosecute the suspected offender, and with the affirmation that a similar report has not been or will not be made to another state.[As inserted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(c)(i)]
(d) for offences specified under this Act.[As inserted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(c)(ii)]
(8) For the purposes of subsection (7) an aircraft is considered to be "in flight" at any time from the moment when the external doors of the aircraft are closed following embarkation until the moment when a door is opened for disembarkation and in the case of a forced landing, the flight is deemed to continue until the competent authorities take over the responsibility for the aircraft and for the persons and property on board.[As deleted and inserted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(d)]
(9) A person who commits an offence under this section for which a penalty is not provided is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than thirty thousand penalty units and not more than three hundred thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years and not more than thirty years or to both the fine and the imprisonment.[As substituted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(e)]
(10) The Authority may by Directives prohibit certain acts which constitute unruly or indecent behavior on board an aircraft in or over Ghana and the Directives may include appropriate sanctions.[As inserted by the Ghana Civil Aviation (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 906) s.17(f)]
Procedure to Follow
Not Avaiable
Responsible Institution
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority
Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Airport Rd, Accra
- Email: info@caa.com.gh
- Website: http://www.gcaa.com.gh/web
- GPS:
- Telephone: +233-302-776-171
Relevant Forms to Download
Online System
Link Unavailable
Fees/ charges
Not Avaiable
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