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

_____________________________________________________________H.E.C. KoetsCounsellor and Deputy Chief of MissionRoyal Netherlands EmbassyLadies and gentlemen,It is my pleasure to be here in Daejeon, on behalf of the Government of Kingdom of theNetherlands, to this second United Nations Workshop on Space Law Capacity Building, and I amgrateful to the Government of the Republic of Korea and the organisers of this event for givingme the opportunity.Just a year ago, the Dutch Government had the pleasure of hosting the first suchworkshop in The Hague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in co-operation with the UnitedNations Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, and the International Institute of Air and SpaceLaw in Leiden.The Netherlands has always placed special emphasis on the role of law in internationalrelations, including space activities, which are among the most international activities imaginable.In order to maintain outer space for peaceful uses and to ensure that all nations and peoples willproperly benefit from space activities, the continuing development of legal norms and principlesat the international level is crucial. For instance, while it is generally agreed that private initiativeand private enterprise can in many ways contribute to the peaceful exploration, use andexploitation of outer space, fair and transparent rules should be developed to ensure a proper andjust balance between the private interests at issue and the general public interest.The Netherlands, in its international relations, has also consistently stressed the need forcountries to learn from each other, making good use of the knowledge and expertise availableelsewhere in the world. Hence, our special interest in the overriding purpose of these workshopsis to give us a chance to educate one another on the role and importance of space law in theconduct of space activities, and to further the development of that body of law.The Hague workshop was attended by some one hundred participants from all over theworld, including many from countries, which had not yet been involved in space activities to anyappreciable extent. The workshop consisted of three sessions of presentations followed byextended discussions, dealing with the international legal regime for outer space, national lawrelevant to space activities, and educational programmes in space law.A fourth session was entirely dedicated to drafting conclusions and recommendations.Some eighteen recommendations were subsequently presented to the Legal Subcommittee of theUnited Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at its most recent session inVienna, in April of this year. On that same occasion, a special presentation was given to themembers of the Legal Subcommittee to convey the success of the workshop.