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

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12 EXISTING UNITED NATIONS TREATIES: STRENGTHS AND NEEDSAchievements of the UnitedNations in the establishment ofinternational space law by a seriesof space treatiesLet us first concentrate on the role and achievements ofthe United Nations in the establishment of internationalspace law as a special system within the presentinternational law. Its purpose is to govern all activities,or different categories of such activities, in and relatingto outer space including celestial bodies.It is generally known that the space legislation inthe United Nations has been worked out through theCommittee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space(COPUOS), which was established by GeneralAssembly resolution 1348 (XIII) of December 1958,first as an Ad hoc body, and then transformed one yearlater by resolution 1472 (XIV) of 12 December 1959into a permanent organ of the General Assembly.During its existence, the membership of the Committeewas expanded several times and by its present number(61 States) includes approximately one third of thewhole UN membership. Since the early 1960's, theCOPUOS has become the focal point for all spacerelatedcooperative programmes furthered by the UnitedNations. Two subcommittees, one Legal, the otherScientific and Technical, each composed of the sameMember States as the parent body, were created fordetailed consideration of specific proposals andsuggestions concerning scientific, technical and legalproblems submitted by the COPUOS members for thedevelopment of international cooperation in the field ofspace exploration for peaceful purposes. In addition tothe Member States, a number of internationalorganizations, both intergovernmental and nongovernmental,which are dedicated to the developmentof international space cooperation, have been grantedthe status of observers in the Committee and itssubcommittees. In this way, the basis for a meaningfuldiscussion on space issues has been enlarged. Fromamong the specialised organisations of the UN system,the participation of the ITU has proven to be veryvaluable, particularly when discussing the issue ofGeostationary Satellite Orbit. The European SpaceAgency has been one of those actively participatingorganizations, too. Moreover, some non-governmentalorganizations, such as COSPAR, IAF and ILA, havebeen granted the observer status within COPUOS andparticipate regularly in its work.Right in the beginning of the COPUOSdeliberations, an important decision was made whichsince then has characterised its working methods up-tonow:the conclusions to be adopted by the Committeeand both its subcommittees should be subject toagreement without need for voting.3 It should beobserved that the COPUOS thus became the first UNbody which started applying in its proceedings aprinciple that has become later known as rule ofconsensus and expanded in the practice of the UnitedNations and also in other international organizations.The application of this rule has mostly had positiveeffects on the work of the Committee and itssubcommittees, particularly during the first decades oftheir activities. Its extensive interpretation andapplication, however, has also created problems.From the substantive point of view, the COPUOSand its Legal Subcommittee, in which the considerationof legal aspects of space activities has been effectednow for almost four decades, adopted the method of aprogressive elaboration of appropriate space lawinstruments. The rule of law in outer space should thusbe established not by a single, all embracinginternational convention, but step-by-step, by a numberof legal instruments dealing with the most urgentproblems of space activities. Moreover, the initialdiscussions in the Legal Subcommittee led to theconclusion that the first legal basis for space activitiesshould be conceived rather in principles than in detailedrules, in order to reach the necessary agreementrelatively soon. In this way, the founding spacelegislative document of the United Nations emerged asthe 1963 Declaration of Principles Governing theActivities of States in the Exploration and Use of OuterSpace, which was adopted in the form of a UN General3 Cf. the statement of the Chairman of the COPUOS inVerbatim Records of the Ninth Meeting held on 29 March1962, UN Doc. A/AC. 105/PV.93/1962, p.3.
EXISTING UNITED NATIONS TREATIES: STRENGTHS AND NEEDS 13Assembly resolution. The same approach was alsomaintained when this Declaration was beingtransformed into a legally binding instrument, theTreaty on Principles Governing the Activities of Statesin the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Includingthe Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which wasopened for signature on 27 January 1967 and enteredinto force on 10 October the same year. Needless to saythat the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) became themost important space law instrument of our times,enjoying the widest acceptance by the internationalcommunity from among all the UN space treaties.5 Italso became one of the significant instruments of thecontemporary international law in general, whichcontributed to its progressive development andcodification in the meaning of the UN Charter Article13. It is possible to affirm that its principles have beenrecognized by the international community as a whole,thus forming a part of general international law.Under the scope of this paper, it is not necessary toanalyse this instrument in greater details. Nevertheless,it must be emphasized that the OST included some veryimportant elements which impressed the characteristicfeatures on the whole international space law of ourtimes. Already its leading principle, though its wordinghas been an apparent compromise, spelled out not onlythe main purpose of the international cooperation inspace activities, but also expressed the requirement forthe exploration and use of outer space to be carried outfor the benefit and in the interest of all countries; theseactivities must remain “the province of all mankind”.The Outer Space Treaty also enshrined suchimportant principles as freedom in the exploration anduse of outer space, freedom of scientific investigation inouter space and international cooperation in suchactivities. Furthermore, it is hardly possible tooverestimate the value of the principle of nonappropriationof outer space, including the Moon and4 Cf. resolution 1962(XVIII) adopted by unanimity on 13December 1963. See its text in United Nations Treaties andPrinciples on Outer Space, United Nations, New York,1997/UN Doc. A/AC. 105/572/Rev.2, pp. 37 s.5 See its text in United Nations Treaties and Principles on OuterSpace, pp. 4 s. As of March 1998, 94 States ratified the OSTand moreover, 27 States signed itother celestial bodies, by any means. It must beemphasized that the principle of non-appropriationrelates to outer space as a whole, no exception has beenadmitted, and therefore no part of outer space (or anycelestial body) can be exempted from the impact of thisprinciple.A special significance must be also attached to theprinciples of international responsibility of StatesParties to the Treaty for national space activities,whether such activities are carried out by governmentalagencies or by non-governmental entities, and forassuring that national activities are carried out inconformity with the provisions of the OST. Thisprinciple goes farther than the norms of generalinternational law relating to State responsibility. For bythe declaration of responsibility which relates equally toState and non-State activities, and also by therequirement of authorization and continuing supervisionof the non-governmental entities by the “appropriate”State, the States assumed in fact a direct responsibilitynot only for their own space activities but also for theactivities of their non-governmental entities in outerspace.Moreover, the principle of international liability fordamage of the State that launches or procures thelaunching of a space object and the State from whoseterritory or facility an object is launched for damage toanother State or to its natural or juridical persons bysuch object or its component parts on the Earth, in airspace or in outer space, was established. This was donewithout hesitation and reservations which have usuallycharacterized the process of negotiation on liability fordamage in other legal fields. And the way for theapplication of this principle directly at anintergovernmental level without exhausting the localremedies has been opened.These are but few examples of the major input doneby the OST to the progressive development ofinternational space law. On the other hand, some issueswere crossed over by halfway compromises and someother issues, perhaps more prospective than impendingat that time, have been totally missing in the OST.Thus, e.g., a dual system of space demilitarisation wasestablished. While the Moon and other celestial bodiesshould be used exclusively for peaceful purposes, in
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SESSION FOURExpanding Global Remote
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SESSION EIGHTMaintaining the Space
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220Session 3: Wednesday. 21 July. 1
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223Annex IITHIRD UNITED NATIONS CON
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