Legal aspects of safety management in civil aviation

The article aims to show selected issues related to safety management system with particular reference to its legal aspects. It is composed of seven parts. The first one outlines the general overview on the problem of aviation safety. In the following passage, substance of safety management in civil aviation is presented. Third part describes key factors determining safety in aviation. In the fourth subtitle, selected issues regarding international regulations concerning safety management systems are discussed with reference to Chicago Convention and Annex 19 which established detailed arrangements for safety management. Subsequently, the author describes the EU legislation related to subject matter as well as major institution in charge of ensuring safety like European Aviation Safety Agency. The las but one subtitle refers to some legal aspects of safety management in civil aviation in Polish law. The summary contains conclusions drawn from the analysis of the both international and polish regulations.Purpose - The paper’s main purpose is to present legal framework of aviation safety management at the level of international, European and polish law. The author also investigates the role of legal regulations in the process of keeping aviation safe with reference to other factors which have a negative influence on aviation safety. Design/Methodology/Approach - A comprehensive analysis of legislation was conducted along with literature review including international publications focused both on the area of management and law. The reference list was selected in such way to show an objective and impartial approach to the subject matter.Findings - The laws regarding safety management in aviation are subject to harmonization but we can observe that the regulations are becoming more and more technical and complex.Research limitations/implications - The limitations of this paper lie in the lack of review of the studies of practical part of the safety management system regulations.Practical implications-The review shows a profound review of legislation which may be used by both managers and lawyer from aviation industry. Moreover, some statistical data is provided in order to emphasize the importance of safety management in the current world.Originality/Value-The article presents analysis carried at three levels of legal regulations, i.e. international, European and local (Polish) which is the best way to show similarities and point out differences.