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Settlement of Space Law Disputes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2009

Hanneke van Traa-Engelman
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Extract

International Space Law forms one of the most recently established branches of international law. Its progressive development requires effective means to settle disputes at an international level. A generally accepted system to settle disputes on space law matters peacefully would not only benefit the world community by reducing tension in international relations, but would also appear to be indispensible for an increase in the reliability and credibility of this new field of international law.Moreover, enhanced trust in the existing system of international regulation of space activities could facilitate the willingness of nations to extend and elaborate this specific field of international law. Establishment of an effective mechanism for dispute settlement in international space law could positively influence the general subject matter of peaceful settlement of international disputes by setting an example for international relations in the increasingly dependant world of modern times.

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Articles
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Leiden Journal of International Law , Volume 3 , Issue 3: SPECIAL ISSUE 1990: THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW: Reflections on International Dispute Settlement , December 1990 , pp. 139 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 1990

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References

1. Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, Jan. 27 1967, 18 UST 2410, TIAS 6347, 610 UNTS 205, entered into force Oct. 10, 1967 (hereinafter Outer Space Treaty).

2. “The exploration and use of outer space including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and the interest of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind. Outer Space including the moon and celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies. There shall be freedom of scientific investigation in outer space including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States shall facilitate and encourage international cooperation in such investigation.”(Outer Space Treaty, Art. I).

3. Outer Space Treaty, Arts. II, III and IV.

4. Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, April 22,1968,19 U.S.T. 7570, T.I.A.S. No. 6599,672 U.N.T.S. U9, entered into force Dec. 3, 1968 (hereinafter Rescue Agreement).

5. Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, Mar. 29, 1979, 24 U.S.T.2389, T.I.A.S. No. 7762, entered into force Oct. 9, 1973 (hereinafter Liability Convention).

6. Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, Jan. 14, 1975, 28 U.S.T. 695, T.I.A.S. No. 8480, entered into force Sept. 15, 1976 (hereinafter Registration Convention).

7. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, U.N. Doc. A/34/99 (1979) opened for signature Dec. 18, 1979, entered into force July 11, 1984 (hereinafter Moon Agreement).

8. Including orbits round or other trajectories to or around it. See Moon Agreement, supra note 7, Art. 1(2).

9. Moon Agreement, supra note 7, Art. XI(5).

10. See Jasentuliyana, N., Conflict Resolution in Outer Space: New Approaches-Old Techniques, in The Settlement of Disputes on the New Natural Resources (Hague Academy of International Law, Workshop, The Hague, November 1982) 229–239 (1983).Google Scholar

11. Art. X of the USSR Draft Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration in the Use of Outer Space, the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, U.N. Doc. A/6352 (1966).

12. von Mangoldt, H., Methods of Dispute Settlement in Public International Law, in K.-H. Böckstiegel(ed.), Settlement of Space Law Disputes; The Present State of the Law and Perspectives of Further Development 15–26(1980).Google Scholar

13. U.N.Doc. A/RES/46/65 (1987). See e.g. Benkö, M., The UN Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Adoption of Principles on Remote Sensing of the Earth from Outer Space and Other Recent Developments, 36 ZLW 17 (1987).Google Scholar

14. See H.L. van Traa-Engelman, Commercial Utilization of Outer Space, Legal Aspects (1989).

15. See supra 2. 2. (Consensus procedure).

16. U.N. Doc. A/AC. 105/320 ANNEX I, App..

17. See supra 3. 1. (The Outer Space Treaty).

18. Agreement Relating to the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (hereinafter INTELSAT Agreement), and Operating Agreement Relating to the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (hereinafter INTELSAT Operating Agreement), in N. Jasentuliyana and R.S.K.Lee, II Manual on Space Law 159 (1979).

19. INTELSAT Agreement, Art III(a).

20. INTELSAT Operating Agreement, Annex C, Art 9(b).

21. See for text of the INMARSAT Convention and Operating Agreement, N. Jasentuliyana and R.S.K.Lee, II Manual on Space Law 291 (1979).

22. Id. at 241. See also, Corbiel, A. Dr, International Organizations and Outer Space Activities 48–55 (1984).Google Scholar

23. INMARSAT Convention, Art. 31; INMARSAT, Operating Agreement, Art. XVI, Annex: Procedures for the settlements of disputes.

24. INMARSAT Convention, Art. 31.

25. See supra note 21.

26. Annex Art. 9, supra note 20.

27. Id. Art 11, cf. INTELSAT Annex C, Art 13.

28. The role of (he Agency is to elaborate a long-term European space policy (Art. II(a)), to elaborate and implement activities and programs in the space field (Art. II(b)), and to elaborate and implement the industrial policy appropriate to its program (Art. II(d)).

29. Convention for the Establishment of a European Space Agency (hereinafter ESA Convention), in N.Jasentuliyana and R.S.K. Lee, II Manual on Space Law 259 (1979).

30. Convention Establishing the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (hereinafter EUTELSAT Convention); Operating Agreement Relating to the European Telecommunications Satellite Organizations (hereinafter EUTELSAT Operating Agreement), 1983 Tractatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden No. 96.

31. EUTELSAT Convention Annex B.

32. Id. para. 4.

33. EUTELSAT Convention, Art XX, EUTELSAT Operating Agreement Art. 20.

34. International Telecommunication Convention, See Final Acts of the Plenipotentiary Conference, Nice, June 30, 1989.

35. See e.g. M. Smith, International Regulation of Satellite Communication 23–28,78 ff. (1990).

36. See supra note 34: Art. 50, Settlement of Disputes; Art. 81, Arbitration Procedure.

37. Final Acts of the Plenipotentiary Conference, Nice, June 30, 1989.

38. K.-H. Bockstiegel adressed the subject of outer space dispute settlement at various colloquia of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), Proceedings of the […] Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, 1977 (Prague), 1979 (Munich), 1980 (Tokyo), 1982 (Paris), 1983 (Budapest). The Institute of Air and Space Law of the University of Cologne held in 1979 in Munich an international colloquium devoted to the settlement of space law disputes, See supra note 12.Furthermore a round table was held on the settlement of space law disputes by the Council of Advanced International Studies, Cordoba, Argentina, 1981. The Hague Academy of International Law and the UN University organized an international workshop in 1982 in The Hague, See supra note 10.

39. ILA Conference in Manilla 1978. See 7 Journal of Space Law 63–64 (1979).

40. Following a Report by the Committee Rapporteur, K.-H.Böckstiegel.See International Law Association, Report of the Sixty-First Conference 326–327 (1984).

41. Id. at 327.

42. Id.

43. Convention on the Settlement of Space Law Disputes (First Draft), International Law Association, Report of the Sixty-First Conference 334–355 (1984).

44. See also R. Ostrihansky's contribution to this issue.

45. See supra note 9.

46. See, e.g., W. Hampe, The legal Order for the Exploration and Use of Outer Space: Basic Principles, Scope of Application, Trends of Development and V. Kopal, Some Issues of Next Progressive Development of International Space Law, in American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Proceedings of the Thirty-first Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, October 1988, Bangalore (1989). See also I.H.Ph.Diederiks-Verschoor, The settlement of Disputes Under Space Law, in The Settlement of Disputes on the New Natural Resources, supra note 10, at 85–104.