The Ministry of National Defense has proposed a military aviation bill to the Executive Yuan.
Since the promulgation of the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) on May 30, 1953, the military has relied on it for legal operations regarding its air bases, the ministry said, adding that no tailor-made law exists to govern military aviation.
It was expected that a military aviation act would be enacted by the legislature for military purposes, but governments have failed for 64 years since the promulgation of the act to enact a military version of the law, it said.
The military needs laws to deal with several situations not covered by the act, such as drones that compromise military flight operations and the organization of investigations into military aviation incidents, it added.
The draft proposes a prison sentence of no more than five years for any civilian found guilty of inflicting damage to military aircraft, air bases or auxiliary equipment, or causing them to become otherwise inoperable, or a sentence of no more than three years in minor cases, the ministry said.
Any active service personnel found guilty of the same charges would be punished in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), the ministry said.
A fine of between NT$300,000 and NT$1.5 million (US$9,662 and US$48,309) would be given to those who do not remove or improve installations that obstruct signal lights and devices after a first warning, the draft bill states.
According to the draft act, the fine could be levied against persons whose farm animals — including domesticated pigeons — interfere with flight safety at military bases, or cause disruptions to operations at military air bases with remotely-piloted drones, the ministry said.
The draft act would authorize the government to issue multiple fines to repeat offenders, it added.
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