The ITU and ICAO regulating aeronautical safety services and related radio spectrum

The aim of the thesis is two-fold. At first it has a theoretical value, aiming at shedding light upon an unexplored area of international law – i.e. the overlap of regulatory competence of the ITU and ICAO – in light of the wider phenomenon of the fragmentation of international law. Secondly, it has a practical purpose, suggesting a preventive way to deal with the legal antinomies that could arise between the ITU and ICAO legal frameworks and that could ultimately represent a hazard to the safety of air navigation and to human life and property. It takes a systematic approach, analyzing both the institutional aspects of the ITU and ICAO and the legal features of their main regulatory instruments, the Radio Regulations and the Standards and Recommended Practices. Subsequently, it explores the criticalities of such interaction in the overlapping domain of aeronautical safety services and attempts to examine the viable solutions in the next future, both at the legal and institutional level. This area of law, due to its complexity and to its connection with technical and engineering aspects, is largely unexplored by international lawyers. It thus represents an original contribution filling a gap not covered by either generalist or specialized legal literature. It also tackles potential problems that, if left unanswered, could become actual in the next future and represent a serious threat to the safety of international civil aviation. In particular, it recalls the necessity of a tighter regulatory coordination between the two international agencies in view of the increasing competition for and congestion of radio spectrum.