Legal Aspects of Privatisation and Commercialisation of Space Activities - Fifth and Final report (Part I)

MAUREEN WILLIAMS

Report of the Seventy-Fifth Conference of the ILA

International Law Association

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2012 p. 281 - 307

0074-6738

We are pleased to announce that the ILA work on space debris has been referred to with some frequency in various circles, particularly in the annual sessions of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its Legal Subcommittee (LSC). Mention should be made, for example, of the working paper by the Czech Republic submitted to this UN body in 2011, and again in 2012, with extensive references to the 1994 ILA Instrument on Space Debris. This document states that the ILA proposals bring forth a set of substantive principles covering the essential building blocks of the regulation proposed, including the principles of responsibility and liability for damage caused by space debris, and proposes a system for the settlement of disputes which combines the methods of amicable settlement with arbitration and adjudication, plus definitions on space debris, environment  and damage. This proposal was introduced by a long time member of our Committee, Professor Vladimir Kopal, as head of the Czech delegation to COPUOS.             Similar considerations apply to the 1998 ILA Convention on Dispute Settlement. In fact, in 2011 a number of ILA Committee members, including the Chair and the Rapporteur, were part of an Experts Group set up by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) with a mandate to elaborate Optional Rules on Arbitration for Disputes relating to Outer Space Activities. The Group worked without interruption in 2010-2011 and the Rules became effective upon approval by the PCA Administrative Council on 6 December 2011. During the drafting proceedings there were several references to the ILA 1998 Convention which, in some sections, was inspiring this set of New Rules. The PCA Rules were formally introduced to the United Nations (COPUOS-LSC) on 28 March 2012 in Vienna by Judge Fausto Pocar[,  Chair of the PCA Experts Group, accompanied by ILA Committee members.             Finally, we are proud to inform  that the ILA Draft Model Law on National Space Legislation (NSL) is now completed. It is the result of a praiseworthy effort of our general rapporteur, Professor Stephan Hobe, developed over the ILA Conferences of Berlin, Toronto, Río de Janeiro and The Hague, in consultation with Committee members and other learned experts consulted at the various drafting stages. Unlike other topics addressed in this Report, the Committee believed the time was ripe for having an ILA Model Law. Thus, Part II of this Final Report is dedicated to NSL and the Draft Model Law will be introduced by Professor Hobe. [1] Un Doc. A/AC.105/C.2/L.283 (9 March 2011), 2-3, also circulated in March 2012 at the 51st Session of the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS. On this occasion the ILA Report 1994 (Eds. James Crawford and Maureen Williams) was quoted. Both presentations (2011) and (2012) were made by Professor Vladimir Kopal. [2] www.pca-cpa.org.