Proceedings of the Workshop - United Nations Office for Outer ...

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208commentary by the Rapporteur o f the ILA Space LawCommittee, Prof. Maureen Williams, to the 66thConference o f the International Law Association inBuenos Aires in August 1994. The Conference adoptedit by a formal Resolution and thereafter, the text wascommunicated to COPUOS and other relevantinternational organizations. The text o f the DraftInstrument is enclosed as an annex to this paper.Major provisions in this final text deal with: definitions(Article 1), scope o f application (Article 2), the generalobligation to cooperate (Article 3), obligations toprevent, inform, consult, and negotiate in good faith(Article 4), compatibility with other agreements(Article 5), responsibility and liability (Articles 6 to 8),dispute settlement (Article 9), and the usual provisionson formalities of an international instrument.As many will know, a Symposium was held inconnection with the 1995 meeting of the Legal Sub-Committee of COPUOS and it was suggested thereagain that the Legal Sub-Committee now take up thetopic of space debris in its Agenda and that the ILADraft Instrument might be a good starting point for therelevant discussion, even if, for the time being, only acode o f conduct might be contemplated.This is in conformity with statements of manystates at all recent meetings o f the Main Committee ofCOPUOS which suggested that not only the Scientificand Technical Sub-Committee of COPUOS deal withthe topic of space debris, but that also the Legal Sub-Committee put this point on its Agenda. The samesuggestion has been included in the yearly statementsby the International Law Association as on officialobserver to COPUOS in its meetings o f the MainCommittee.In this context it is with pleasure that one can notethe decisions taken in last week's meeting of COPUOSjust before this UNISPACE III Conference accordingto which new working procedures have beenestablished which seem to facilitate taking up a topicsuch as space debris in future work o f COPUOS andits Legal Sub-Committee.Coming to concrete proposals that might beconsidered here in UNISPACE III on the basis of Dr.Perek's report and other work done in this field, theMAINTAINING THE SPACE ENVIRONMENTfollowing would seem to be both necessary andfeasible:1. A better implementation o f the RegistrationConvention should be promoted to provide moredetailed information relevant for space debris.2. The options for some kind o f regulatory frameworkfor the protection of the outer space environmentshould be discussed in COPUOS and its Legal Sub-Committee.3. The ILA Draft Instrument on Space Debris shouldbe included in such discussions, irrespective of whetherthe final legal form might be a convention, a set o fprinciples, standards and recommended practices or acode o f conduct, or perhaps a combination of two ofthese as suggested by Dr. Lafferranderie during themeeting o f this Session o f the Workshop.AnnexBuenos Aires International Instrumenton the Protection of the Environmentfrom Damage Caused by Space Debris(Draft approved by the 1994 Conference o f theInternational Law Association)Article 1: DefinitionsFor the purposes o f this Instrument:(a) "Contamination/pollution" means a humanmodification o f the environment by the introduction ofundesirable elements or by the undesirable use o f thoseelements.(b) "Contamination/pollution" will be considered assynonyms and are inclusive o f all harmful elementsother than space debris.(c) "Space debris" means man-made objects in outerspace, other than active or otherwise useful satellites,
MAINTAINING THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT 209when no change can reasonably be expected in theseconditions in the foreseeable future.Space debris may result, inter alia, from:Routine space operations including spent stages ofrockets and space vehicles, and hardware re-leasedduring normal manoeuvres.Orbital explosions and satellite breakups, whetherintentional or accidental.Collision-generated debris.Particles and other forms o f pollution ejected, forexample, by solid rocket exhaust.Abandoned satellites.(d) "Environment", for the purposes o f thisInstrument, includes both the outer space and earthenvironments within or beyond national jurisdiction.(e) "Damage" means loss of life, personal injury orother impairment of health, or loss of or damage toproperty o f States or o f persons, natural or juridical, orproperty o f international intergovernmentalorganisations, or any adverse modification of theenvironment o f areas within or beyond nationaljurisdiction or control.Article 2: Scope of ApplicationThe instrument shall be applicable to space debriswhich causes or is likely to cause direct or indirect,instant or delayed damage to the environment, or topersons or objects.Article 3: The General Obligation toCooperate1. States and international organisations parties tothis Instrument shall cooperate directly, and/or throughthe pertinent international organisations, to protect theenvironment and implement this instrument effectively.2. States and international organisations parties tothis Instrument shall take all appropriate measures toprevent, reduce, and control any damage or significantrisk arising from activities under their jurisdiction orcontrol which are likely to produce debris.Article 4: Obligations to Prevent, inform,Consult, and Negotiate in Good FaithStates and international organisations parties to thisInstrument have, in addition to the duties set forth inArticle 3, the following obligations:(a) To cooperate in the prevention o f damage to theenvironment and make every effort to avoid situationsthat may lead to disputes.(b) To cooperate, in accordance with their nationallaws and practices, in promoting the development andexchange of technology to prevent, reduce, and controlspace debris.(c) To encourage and facilitate the flow and exchangeof information o f a scientific, technical, economic,legal, and commercial nature relevant to thisinstrument.(d) To hold consultations when a State, group ofStates or international organisation parties to thisinstrument have reasons to believe that activitiescarried out under their jurisdiction or control, orplanned to be carried out, produce space debris that islikely to cause damage to the environment, or topersons or objects, or significant risk thereto.Any State or international organisation party to thisInstrument may request to hold consultations when ithas reasons to believe that the activity o f another Stateor international organisation party to this Instrumentproduces space debris that is likely to cause damage tothe environment. Refusal to hold consultations, or thebreaking up of such without justification, shall beinterpreted as bad faith.(e) To negotiate in good faith which means, inter alia,not only to hold consultations or talks but also topursue them with a view o f reaching a solution.
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SESSION ONEExisting United Nations
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