The Moon Agreement Revisited: The Road Ahead

Overview

The 2019 Symposium was held on 1 April, 15:00 – 18:00 Vienna Time (CEST) in Board Room D, Vienna International Centre.

A panel of prestigious speakers discussed the following subject: “The Moon Agreement Revisited: The Road Ahead” during the 58th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the UN COPUOS.

The panel was welcomed by the Chair of the Legal Subcommittee Andrzej Misztal of Poland, and co-chaired by Kai-Uwe Schrogl, President of the IISL, and Sergio Marchisio, Chair of ECSL. Both highlighted the significance of the Moon Agreement in today’s geopolitical and technological context.

Please find the abstract, the Symposium programme and the presentation slides from the Symposium below.

This IISL/ECSL Annual Symposium on Space Law is co-organised every year by IISL and ECSL and takes place during the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UN COPUOS) in Vienna, Austria. Both IISL and ECSL are permanent observers to the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee.

This Symposium brings together academic experts and leading practitioners in the field of space law, policy and regulation to discuss pressing issues and to propose solutions to the international community.

Abstract of the Symposium programme

As humankind celebrates the jubilee of its first steps on the Moon, envisaging a new era for space exploration, the 40th anniversary of the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and other Celestial Bodies invites its proper appraisal.

Elaborated by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Legal Subcommittee and subsequently approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, the Moon Agreement, as it became known, reaffirms fundamental principles of the Outer Space Treaty in relation to celestial bodies, while introducing thought-provoking concepts and opening the way for the development of an international legal regime applicable to space resource activities.

Designed to prevent the Moon from becoming an area of international conflict, the agreement promotes the further development of cooperation among States in the exploration and use of Moon and other celestial bodies, in a basis of equality. Although in effect since 1984, the document still accounts significantly less ratifications than other important Space Law treaties, and its widespread acceptance remains elusive.

As the attention of the international community increasingly revolves around the exploration and use of celestial bodies, based on strategic, scientific and economic considerations, allusion to relevant international Space Law sources is of fundamental consequence. Accordingly, the international framework introduced by the Moon Agreement deserves to be revisited, in order to evaluate
its provisions as well as contemplate potential outlooks.

To address the current perspectives regarding the Moon Agreement, the IISL/ECSL Symposium promoted a collaborative effort to contemplate the road ahead for the exploration and use of the Moon and other celestial bodies, in light of applicable legal principles.

Symposium programme

Presentations held

Title/presenter	Presentation
Space activities and celestial bodies: current scientific and legal perspectives Guoyu Wang, Beijing Institute of Technology	Presentation
Study of the drafting history of the Moon Agreement  Irmgard Marboe, University of Vienna	Presentation
Contribution of the deep seabed mining legal regime to space resource activities  Armel Kerrest, University of Brest	Presentation
Comparative assessment of the Antarctica treaty system: non-militarization and environmental protection  Olavo Bittencourt, Catholic University of Santos:	Presentation
Challenges for the implementation of the Moon Agreement  Michelle Hanlon, University of Mississippi	Presentation
The legacy of the Moon Agreement, revisited  Steven Freeland, Western Sydney University	Presentation

Using the occasion: Celebrating ECSL 30th Anniversary

In addition to celebrating the Moon Agreement Anniversary, the IISL/ECSL Symposia was also the opportunity to celebrate yet another anniversary: the 30th anniversary of the ECSL. The event took place right after the Symposia and gathered ECSL members present to the UN COPUOS LSC. As it has become tradition, the ECSL also invited some of its members to observe the work of the Legal Subcommittee and attend the IISL/ECSL Symposium.

Find more information on ESCL’s 30th anniversary here.