Eleventh Nandasiri Jasentuliyana Keynote Lecture on Space Law 2019
Each year since 2009, at the International Astronautical Congress, the Nandasiri Jasentuliyana Keynote Lecture on Space Law is presented by a leading expert on space law. The 2019 Nandasiri Jasentuliyana Keynote Lecture on Space Law was presented at the IISL colloquium during the IAC in Washington D.C., United States. It was given by Setsuko Aoki and entitled International Cooperation Mechanisms in Outer Space Activities for the Next Decade. The keynote lecture is published in the IISL Proceedings 2019. The text of the keynote lecture can be accessed here.
In memoriam: Edward R. Finch Jr. (1919-2011)
Edward R. Finch, Jr., a longtime member of IISL, passed away on 4 September 2011 at the age of 92. Ambassador Finch was a member of the U.S. delegation to UNISPACE in 1982 and 1999 and a Permanent NGO Representative to COPUOS. He was on the Board of Directors of the National Space Society and he was a member of the Space Law Committee of the American Branch of ILA. One of his books was ASTRO BUSINESS; A GUIDE TO COMMERCE AND LAW OF SPACE. He was proud of his military service in World War II. He received many awards including the U.S. Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Order of the British Empire, and the Legion of Honor of France. He was gregarious, enthusiastic and a great teller of stories at his dinner table where he often entertained his family and his many friends.
In memoriam: Eduardo Gaggero (1937-2011)
Sadly, Dr Eduardo Gaggero is no longer with us. His friends and colleagues remember him as a figure of great renown in the field of air and space law, not only on the international scene but also as head of CIDA-E, the Uruguayan Centre for Air and Space Law, which he loved so much and conducted so well. Winning hearts and minds in the various institutions to which he belonged was no more than a natural consequence of his friendliness and kind personality. He was a long-time member of the IISL, and also made CIDA-E one of the Institute’s first institutional members. Dr. Gaggero followed the steps of Alvaro Bauza Araujo, a famous Uruguayan law professor, who launched one of the first books on space law in Latin America in 1957 entitled “Towards an Astronautical Law”. Bauza Araujo was then the Uruguayan pioneer in this new branch of the legal sciences. Gaggero was also a pioneer, in his case in the hard challenge of research, teaching and dissemination of space law. He wrote a number of interesting papers on the subject, as well as on air law. He made an important contribution to the elaboration of the first Uruguayan document on Space Policy, adopted by the National Commission of Aeronautical Policy in 1975. That same year, Dr. Gaggero was appointed director of CIDA-E, a recently set up national institution to promote research and development and disseminate knowledge in the aerospace fields, where he worked with dedication encouraging the ratification of the Space Treaties to which Uruguay was not yet a party. Efforts were not in vain: by 1981 Uruguay had already ratified the Moon Agreement. CIDA-E, with the support of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, promoted the Third Space Conference of the Americas (Punta del Este, 1996). Uruguay assumed the Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Conference, a position held by this country until the celebration of the Fourth Conference in 2002. During those six years, CIDA-E, always presided by Gaggero, organized various seminars covering different aspects of space activities. In those daysthe country became extremely active in many areas of the field, especially the law of outer space. A firm supporter of the idea that the teaching of space law should be an important element of a country’s foreign policy, Dr. Gaggero joined enthusiastically in the pursuance of the creation of a Regional Centre for Space Law Studies, proposed by the present authors, with the purpose of organizing space law courses in the Latin American countries. In 2007, Dr. Gaggero and the present writers worked together in Montevideo at a regional conference arranged on the initiative of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science with the full support of the then recently founded Uruguayan Society for the Progress of Science and Technology. During a Round Table dealing with the legal aspects of space activities, to his great satisfaction, a declaration was adopted by consensus, currently known as the Montevideo Declaration, as a follow up to the Buenos Aires (2004) Declaration on the subject. Dr. Gaggero’s contribution to the objectives of the IISL were numerous and based on the authority of his experience as delegate of his country to COPUOS. In this sense his papers ‘International Cooperation in Space: a Uruguayan point of view’ (Budapest 1983) and ‘Space Law Teaching in Uruguay’ (Innsbruck 1986) went a long way in lightening up the thinking of Uruguay in other countries and continents. To cite just a few of his other excellent papers:• Space law: reflections upon its evolution at the beginnings of the third millennium (Journal of the Universidad de Scezin, 1989)• Developing countries and space: From awareness to participation (CIDA-E, February 2003)• New roles in space for the 21st. century: a Uruguayan view (Space Policy, August 2003). The striking feature of Dr. Gaggero’s papers is their being, at the same time, scholarly and practical. In fact, it is fair to say that, over the years, he was the example of a -nearly perfect- equilibrium between idealism and pragmatism which is so important in the world of today. No doubt Dr. Gaggero’s life-work for the progressive development of space law will go down in history. A bright team of his disciples now remains to continue his efforts and pursue the objectives of CIDA-E, in Uruguay and the world, under the powerful guidance of his teachings and example. On behalf of the IISL Board of Directors Maureen Williams (Argentina/UK) and José Monserrat Filho (Brazil)
The Law of Outer Space, An Experience in Contemporary Law Making
The IISL republished The Law of Outer Space, An Experience in Contemporary Law Making by Judge Manfred Lachs. The new edition was edited by Prof. Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Prof. Stephan Hobe and published by Nijhoff/Brill. Publisher: Brill | Nijhoff Brochure
In memoriam: S. Neil Hosenball (1925-2009)
Our member S. Neil Hosenball passed away on 23 December 2009. He was born in New York, and was a graduate of Harvard University law school. He was a lawyer in Cleveland before joining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). After many years as Deputy General Counsel, Dr. Hosenball served as NASA’s General Counsel from 1975-1985. He participated in the drafting of the UN treaties on the peaceful uses of outer space, among other issues. Through his work in UNCOPUOS, Dr. Hosenball was key in formulating and negotiating the 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. He received a Presidential Rank Award in the early 1980s. After retiring from NASA, he was appointed as the first Director of the Center for Space Law and Policy at the University of Colorado. He became a partner at Davis, Graham and Stubbs, where he started a space law practice. Dr S. Neil Hosenball was a longtime and dedicated member of the IISL and a recipient of its Certificate of Merit in 1985. Stephen Doyle adds: During the late 1970s and early 1980s Neil and I worked together on UN delegations, ITU matters, and other international agreement activities involving space. Mr. Hosenball served on or led US Delegations to the Legal Subcommittee of the UN-COPUOS during the 1970s when the committee was considering the 1972 Convention on Liability, the 1975 Convention on Registration of Space Objects, and negotiations leading to the 1979 Moon Treaty, which entered into force in 1984. Mr. Hosenball participated occasionally at collooquia of the IISL during his years at NASA, but as a senior government official, he avoided accepting positions of office or directorship of NGOs. He was a diligent negotiator and a creative attorney who made significant contributions to the development of space law, especially during the years he served as General Counsel to NASA. Nandasiri Jasentuliyana adds: Neil was one of the most effective US negotiators in the UN-COPUOS perhaps because he was the least confrontational under all circumstances and maintaining a very friendly approach though because of his sharpness remained a super negotiator always getting what he considered was reasonable to get (nothing more nothing less). He wrote perhaps the most authoritative academic articles on the treaties he had negotiated. They appeared in the Journal of Space Law. He contributed equally authoritative chapter in my Manual on Space Law. Neil as a member of IISL presented a couple of papers. He was a good friend and a wonderful human being. Eugeniusz Wyzner adds: As Neil Hosenball was a member and eventually head of the United States delegation to the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS throughout the years when I served as its chairman, we worked closely together, in particular during the sessions of the Subcommittee. Neil was not only an outstanding scholar of Outer Space law, but also a skillful negotiator with a vision of a common goal and a true, reliable friend. In Neil Hosenball’s capacity as NASA General Counsel he had been drafting the instructions for the US delegation to the Subcommittee. He told me once half-jokingly that this made it easier for him to be more flexible in negotiating provisions of Outer Space treaties as the head of the US delegation. Indeed, his negotiating skills and expertise greatly contributed to the codification of Outer Space law in the form of universal treaties (where every word had to be approved by consensus), a significant achievement in the era of Cold War. Michel Bourély, Former Legal Adviser, ESA adds: Dans ma carrière à l’ESA, j’avais eu à affronter Neil Hosenball comme adversaire dans une difficile négociation avec la NASA. Je connaissais donc ses grandes qualités professionnelles, auxquelles je tiens à rendre hommage aujourd’hui.
Space Law: a Bibliography – 1958-1994
Space Law: a Bibliography, a cumulative index of the Proceedings of IISL Colloquia, 1958-1994 (UN, 1996, V.96-81142-March 1996). This Bibliography contains a cumulative index of the Proceedings of IISL Colloquia, 1958-1994, searchable by author and by topic, available here.
In memoriam: Eilene M. Galloway (1906-2009)
It is with sadness that the International Institute of Space Law notes the passing of Eilene Marie Galloway on 2 May 2009. She had been recently diagnosed with inoperable cancer and lived her final days at home surrounded by family and friends. Monday 4 May would have been her 103rd birthday. In the 15 May 2006 U.S. Congressional Record, in honour of her 100th birthday, Rep. Bart Gordon, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, called Dr Galloway an influential force in the development and analysis of domestic and international space law and policy.” Born less than three years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, Dr Galloway was a 1928 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Swarthmore College. She had worked with the Congressional Research Service of the United States Library of Congress in 1941, researching and writing House and Senate documents including “Guided Missiles in Foreign Countries” in 1957. She was asked by the Senate after the launching of Sputnik to write the report on its impact to the United States. On 29 July 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, leading to the birth of NASA. Dr Galloway was solely responsible for Section 205 on international cooperation in the Act. On Dr Galloway’s advice, the origial proposal for a National Aeronautics and Space Agency was changed to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Eilene Galloway had been pivotal in helping to write the legislation, emphasizing international cooperation and peaceful exploration. She later served on nine NASA Advisory Committees, and continued to do so until 2003. In the 1960s, she was America’s representative in drafting treaties governing the exploration and uses of outer space, helping launch the field of international space law. Dr Galloway worked for several decades with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) and was also instrumental in creating the International Institute of Space Law. She was Vice President of the IISL between 1967 and 1979, becoming the Institute’s Honorary Director after that. She received the Andrew Haley Gold Medal in 1968 and the IISL’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. Dr Galloway received a NASA Public Service Award in 1987 “for her outstanding achievements of advising the Congress on legal and technical aspects of outer space, and for further services to the United Nations and other international organisations in helping to develop a rational basis for international space law.” In 1999, Dr Galloway was awarded flag and crew emblems of the International Space Station “in appreciation for serving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the nation as a member of the Advisory Committee on the International Space Station, and for your invaluable contribution in making the dream a reality.” In her name, the International Institute of Space Law created the Eilene Galloway Award for Best Written Brief in the Manfred Lachs space law moot court competition from 2000 onwards and since 2006, the Eilene Galloway Symposium on critical issues in space law. In March this year, Dr Galloway wrote a paper “Space Law for a Moon-Mars Program”, published in Space News. The Institute availed of her valuable advice until her passing. As IISL Emeritus President Prof. Isabella Diederiks-Verschoor wrote in her tribute to Eilene Galloway in the 2006 IISL Proceedings: “She has lived her life of distinguished service to the U.S. and to the Space World and has been an inspiration to us all, and above all a reliable friend.” Book of Memorial Tributes for Eilene Galloway Dr. Galloway’s contribution to international law, and international space law in particular, has been a remarkable achievement. Her fruitful and dedicated work in this area, as well as training and encouraging of young professionals, earned her world-wide recognition and respect from specialists all over the world. Her presence will be sorely missed. Mazlan Othman, Director, Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), United Nations I first met Eilene Galloway when I was just beginning my work on space law. She graciously welcomed me into her home and we talked for a very long time. I was impressed by how genuine she was and that she, who had accomplished so much, was willing to spend time with a novice in the field. My condolences to Jonathan and to the rest of your family. Colleen M. Driscoll, Ph.D Director, The Kurtz Institute of Peacemaking In my condition as Chairman of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, COPUOS and on behalf of all states members and permanent observers, I would like to express our condolence to Profesor Eilene Galloway´s family. I was fortunate to meet her for a very brief moment just enought to see in her brilliant eyes the soul of a profund loving person to whom we have an immense debt of gratitude. Ambassador Ciro Arévalo-Yepes UN- COPUOS Chairman Je présente mes condoléances les plus chaleureuses à toute la famille d’Eilene Galloway. Elle a été et demeurera toujours un phare doctrinal pour moi comme pour beaucoup de juristes. La lecture de ses réflexions et ses efforts pour développer le droit spatial a été pour moi un exemple remarquable. PArce que ses idées continueront de vivre et de fructifier, Eilene Galloway ne nou quitte pas vraiment. Prof. Mireille Couston (France) As a very long-time friend of Eilene these words are offered in her memory. Her creativity and steadiness of purpose in the entire area of outer space activity made her a world figure. Her good and faithful friends extend throughout the universe based on the enormous respect held for her and her significant contributions. Eilene was a living proof that a superbly qualified person can have a meaningful impact on a national government, on its very highest leaders, and on international organizations and institutions. Her’s was a life well lived. It is with sadness that we must acknowledge she is gone–but not forgotten. For me I have lost a very special friend. Carl Q. Christol Prof. Eilene Galloway whom I knew ever since my research works in space law almost from year
Further statement by the IISL Board of Directors on claims to lunar property rights
In view of recent misleading views and discussions on this subject in the press, the IISL Board considers that it is appropriate to further clarify a number of salient points as follows: International Law establishes a number of unambiguous principles, according to which the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is permitted for the benefit of mankind, but any purported attempt to claim ownership of any part of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, or authorization of such claims by national legislation, is forbidden as following from the explicit prohibition of appropriation, and consequently is prohibited and unlawful. Since there is no territorial jurisdiction in outer space or on celestial bodies, there can be no private ownership of parts thereof, as this would presuppose the existence of a territorial sovereign competent to confer such titles of ownership. Read more in the full statement issued here.
In memoriam: Lee Morse Love (2008)
Lee Morse Love, a pioneer in reporting on United Nations’ efforts to ensure the peaceful uses of outer space for over 40 years, passed away Sunday 31 August 2008. She wrote about the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space from its early days, and her personal relations were so close with committee members that during the Cold War years she was one of the very few people who was able to entertain delegates from both the United Sates and the former Soviet Union at the same occasion. By the time she left the U.N., only a few months prior to her illness, Lee had covered man’s flights into space and the moon and reported on arguments over who owned the rights to outer space, seas and satellites orbits. She attended the annual International Astronautical Congress all over the world and was elected to membership in the International Institute of Space Law in recognition of her work in the area of space law and policy. Lee was also hired by the United States Agency for International Development to go to places like Truk in Micronesia, to see if and how satellites could help its many islands to better communicate. Her generosity and warmth were eclipsed only by her beauty. A former model and actress, she studied at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. She grew up in Los Angeles, moved to New York and opened her heart and home to the world. In a world of givers and takers, she was a giver with no boundaries. Lee’s love and devotion to the United Nations and its diplomatic concepts brought people together from all over the world regardless of race, religion or political beliefs. With her boundless energy, Lee touched and brought joy to so many people. She will be missed by all her family, friends and anyone fortunate to have been in her company Lee Lee, as she was known, by those closest to her, leaves behind her loving husband of sixty years, Matthew; her children, Wendy Barnard and Gregory Love and his fiancé Nipa; and her grandchildren, Lance, Alessandra, Samantha and Anouchka and many loving nephews and nieces. One of Lee Lee’s favorite expressions was: Age is a number and mine is unlisted, and it will remain so as per her wishes. New York services will be held on Wednesday, 10:30am at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, Amsterdam & 91st, Manhattan. Funeral Services will be held on Friday 2:00pm at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles, 6001 W Centinela Ave., where she will rejoin her mother, father, and loving sister Florence. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lee and Matthew Love Foundation (a charitable foundation) (860 UN Plaza Apt. 23A, New York, NY 10017) for the funding of the Lee Love Award for members of the winning team at the International Institute of Space Law’s annual Moot Court Competition.
Origins of international space law, the IISL and IAF
Origins of International Space Law and the International Institute of Space Law of the International Astronautical Federation, S. Doyle, Honorary Director, 2002 (Univelt, ISBN 0-912183-17-9). Available here.