Book Review of Luping Zhang, The Resolution of Inter-State Disputes in Civil Aviation

Abstract

1. The book under review, Luping Zhang, The Resolution of Inter-State Disputes in Civil Aviation (Oxford University Press, 2022), ISBN 978-0-19-284927-4, is the author’s PhD thesis submitted to the King’s College London. It was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The author is currently Senior Lecturer in the School of International Law at China University of Political Science and Law. She has studied the subject of civil aviation for many years and the book offers an excellent, in-depth guide to the trend of civil aviation dispute settlement. 2. This book aspires to be the first to provide readers with a comprehensive treatment of the topic through analyzing the dispute resolution mandate of the ICAO Council. It points out that the current deficiencies in the dispute resolution mechanisms in international civil aviation are both inherent in the original texts of the Chicago Convention and are constantly tested in practice. The innovative aspect of the book is its interdisciplinary approach. It deploys different theories, such as the bargaining theory and the private ordering theory, to explain the diplomatic and judicial channels in resolving international aviation disputes. The author also puts forward a model of swinging pendulum between political means and legal means in international civil aviation dispute settlement.