74 SA Flyer Magazine
We have the greatest
Constitution in the world.
Not only am I very proud
of it, but most legal and
constitutional experts on
this planet will agree with
me.
R
UTH Bader Ginsburg,
a US Supreme Court
justice said, “It really is,
I think, a great piece of
work that was done. Much
more recent than the US
Constitution.” Harvard constitutional law
scholar Cass Sunstein called it “the most
admirable Constitution in the history of the
world.”
Even Americans, who fervently cherish
their own 230-year-old Constitution are
envious of ours. Our courts have ercely
protected our Constitution and our rights
from attacks by devious political interests,
and they continue to be a bastion against
the excesses of the corrupt.
AVIATION LAW
Our aviation laws and regulations,
however, are founded in international
treaties. Where our courts are joined to
uphold our Constitution, international
treaties are often violated because their
enforcement is generally done through
diplomacy and negotiation rather than
through the courts.
In a domestic environment, regulations
form the basis for safety and security in
commercial aviation. The main bulk of
regulations applicable to general aviation
have been developed as common sense
rules that are intended to promote safe
operation of aircraft by pilots and aircraft
owners. There is something of a culture
among pilots who see such regulations as
being benecial to themselves and their
passengers and that violating them could
well be perilous to their own health and
longevity.
But aviation authorities often take a
somewhat different view, seeing regulations
as things to be enforced, from which
revenue from nes can be generated and
as a vehicle for political, commercial and
even corrupt purposes.
In South Africa, our Constitution is
under siege by the very people who are
charged with protecting it. Graft and
corruption dominates our daily news, and
an understanding of how our Constitution
works has become a necessary tool for our
very survival and the survival of the aviation
industry, which faces enormous challenges,
from the smallest private aircraft to our
national airline itself.
CRIMINAL LAW
AOPA has dealt with many matters over
the years through its Pilot Protection Plan,
where difculties with legal matters have
posed a threat to general aviation pilots and
aircraft owners.
In any instance where there may
be a contravention of the Civil Aviation
Regulations (CARs) or any other aviation
law, no matter how minor, it is considered
to be an offence under South African
law. Not only is this detailed in the CARs
themselves, but the foundation of South
African criminal law, namely the Criminal
Procedure Act, denes an offence as “an
act or omission punishable by law”. It’s as
simple as that.
There are wide misconceptions,
perhaps brought about by watching too
much American TV, that minor offences
such as parking tickets do not constitute
crimes, but that is not the case in most
countries in the world, including SA. The
USA is unique, in that it distinguishes
between ‘felonies’ for serious crimes and
‘misdemeanours’ for minor transgressions.
In South Africa, even the tiniest
offence which may be punishable only
by a mere verbal rap over the knuckles,
still constitutes a crime, and there is only
one set of procedures for dealing with it.
Important to us is that any transgression of
any of the CARs and most other aviation
laws is an offence and therefore punishable
by our criminal justice system.
THE RIGHT TO REMAIN
SILENT
AOPA BRIEFING AIRCRAFT OWNERS & PILOTS ASSOCIATION – SOUTH AFRICA
Even when you feel threatened by inspectors, don't try to proclaim
your innocence there and then. Keep quiet and get professional help.
WORDS:
CHRIS MARTINUS