Nationality: Georgian

Country of Residence: Italy

Nominator: P.J. Blount

Supporters: Steven Freeland, Ian Grosner, Peter Martinez, Gina Petrovici, Lesley Jane Smith

Professional path (including present position)
Current position (since June 2018) - General Counsel at D-Orbit, Italian New Space company focusing on space logistics. Coordination of Legal Area work for the entire Group that includes subsidiaries in Portugal United Kingdom and the United States of America. Responsible for providing legal support to commercial and institutional sales, procurement, corporate governance, fundraising, business development, operations, intellectual property, contributions to the development of space law regulatory framework.

Previous positions:
Independent space law consultant - consultancy on the issues related to intellectual property law, legal and policy aspects of access to and use of various types of data, legal issues related to space activities, in particular Earth observation and other satellite services and applications and procurement.
Postdoctoral researcher at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Italy) - research related to legal and policy aspects of access to and use of various data. Participation in procurement procedures for satellite Earth observation data. Drafting of the JRC Data Policy and its implementation guidelines, including intellectual property rights , data availability, data acquisition. Advise to colleagues on legal issues regarding use of data: licensing, clearance of intellectual property rights in data, mechanisms of making data available. Setting-up partnerships between the JRC and other research institutions within the framework of EU FP7 and Horizon 2020.
Arsenault post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Air & Space Law at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) - research related to the activities of the Institute, including satellite Earth observation. Participation in the independent review of the Canadian Remote Sensing Space Systems Act. Preparation of funding applications for conducting space law related research. Preparation and delivery of lectures regarding regulatory regime for Earth observation activities. Contribution to developing the outline for a monograph on national space legislation.
Visiting lecturer and teaching fellow at Faculty of Law, McGill University (Canada), Faculty of Law, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Georgia), European Humanities University (Lithuania), Faculty of Law, University of Bremen (Germany).

Education and degree
Doctor of Civil Law (PhD) - McGill University, Faculty of Law, Institute of Air and Space Law (Canada). Thesis "The Common Good and Access to Remote Sensing Data"
LL.M. Eur “European and International Law” (Hons) - University Bremen (Germany). Thesis “EU protection of unoriginal databases”
Diploma in public and private international law (Hons) - European Humanities University (Belarus). Thesis “Copyright and Internet”

Main publications in English
Book (PhD thesis)
The Common Good and Access to Remote Sensing Data. LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2011.

Book chapters
1) C. Doldirina, S. Wintermuth, NewSpace Companies: Incorporating and Financing Operations, in Routledge Handbook of Commercial Space Law (eds L-J. Smith & I. Baumann), Routledge (July 2023).
2) C. Doldirina, L. J. Smith, Law Relating To Remote Sensing – Earth Observation, in Routledge Handbook of Space Law (eds. R. Jakhu & P.S. Dempsey), Routledge (2017), 241-268.
3) Intellectual Property Rights in the Context of Space Activities, in Handbook on Space Law (eds. F. v.d. Dunk & F. Tronchetti), Springer (2015), 949-995.
4) What future for GEOSS? Results from the November 2010 GEO Ministerial Meeting, in ESPI Yearbook on Space Policy 2010/2011 (ed. S. Pagkratis), Springer (2013), 223-234.
5) The Impact of Copyright Protection and Public Sector Information Regulations on the Availability of Remote Sensing Data, in Evidence from Earth Observation Satellites: Emerging Legal Issues (eds. R. Purdy & D. Leung), Nijhoff (2012), 293-313.
6) C. Doldirina, L. J. Smith, Intellectual Property Issues in the Use and Distribution of Remote Sensing Data, in Contracting for Space: Contract Practice in the European Space Sector (eds. L.J. Smith, I. Baumann), Ashgate (2011), 337-349.
7) S. Malkov, C. Doldirina, Regulation of Space Activities in the Russian Federation, in National Regulation of Space Activities (ed. Prof. Jakhu), Springer (2010), 315-335.

International Refereed Journals
1) C. Doldirina, O. Batura, L.J. Smith, Space situational awareness on a global scale: pertinent legal issues and insights into possible organization structure, Space Policy.
2) Open data and Earth Observations: the Case of Opening up Access to and Use of Earth Observation Data through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Law 6(1) 2015.
3) C. Doldirina, R. Jakhu and J. Nyampong, Findings of an Independent Review of Canada’s Remote Sensing Space Systems Act of 2005. Annals of Air and Space Law, Vol. XXXVII, p. 399 (2012).
4) A Rightly Balanced Intellectual Property Rights Regime as a Mechanism to Enhance Commercial Earth Observation Activities (2010) 67 Acta Astronautica, 639–647.
5) C. Doldirina, L.J. Smith, Jurisdiction and Applicable Law in Cases of Damage from Space in Europe – the Advent of the Most Suitable Choice – Rome II (2010) 66 Acta Astronautica, Issue 1, 239-244.
6) C. Doldirina, L.J Smith, Remote Sensing: The Three E’s – A Case for Moving Space Data towards the Public Good (2008) 24 Space Policy Journal 1, 22-32.
Around 30 conference papers and other publications.

Membership and professional affiliation
International Institute of Space Law, member
International Academy of Astronautics, Corresponding Member
World Space Week Association, Board of Directors member
International Astronautical Federation IAC International Programme Committee Steering Group Co-Chair (for IISL)
Past member of Space Generation Advisory Council (including in Co-Chair role)

Awards and other accomplishments
April 2020 – International Institute of Space Law Space Law Award for Young Achievers
October 2009 - Diedericks-Verschoor award and prize for the best paper by a young author for the Colloquium on Space Law of the International Institute of Space Law
Over the university years I received numerous scholarships to cover my core and extracurricular activities.

Space law expertise
I am a lawyer by training, with a specialisation in intellectual property law, the law pertaining to Earth observation activities, contract law relevant to space activities, as well as well-rounded practitioner in my role as the General Counsel in the New Space company D-Orbit. I have academic, government, consultancy and private sector work experience that contributed to my expertise in such areas as legal and regulatory aspects of space debris mitigation and remediation, open data policies, space situational awareness, in-orbit servicing and other in-orbit operations, as well as space company operations. I also actively popularise space law, for example by contributing to the work of the IAF IAC Programme Committee Steering Group, participating as an invited lecturer in various educational programmes (including International Space University), representing D-Orbit at various events and conferences,
interacting with authorities with regard to the development of space law, and as a Director of the World Space Week Association.

IISL Position applied for
Director

Specify your relationship with the IISL
I am an IISL member since 2007. I have been an active participant in many IISL Colloquia, as an author of papers, invited speaker, rapporteur and chair of technical sessions. I actively support Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court as a memorials’ and oral rounds’ judge. I am the IISL International Programme Committee co-chair since 2016, leading the work on preparing, finalising and submitting the IISL Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space technical programme to the IAF for IAC. For the second term now I will be representing IISL as the Co-Chair of the IAF IAC Porgramme Committee Steering Group. I am a member of the IISL Space Traffic Management working group. I support other work of the Institute, including help with the Colloquium organization, as necessary. In 2020 I was selected to receive the IISL Young Achievers Award, that recongised, among other achievements, my services to the Institute.

Specify the reason for applying for the postition and how you can serve IISL
I am an IISL member since 2007 and participated in its activities in various capacities, which also helped me to grow as a professional. A citizen of the world, I would like to spread the value of uniform space law principles to enable future generations to call themselves citizens of the universe. As a Director, I would focus on the improvement of interaction between the Institute and the IAF, also via my co-chair position in the IAF IAC Porgramme Committee Steering Group, to efficiently interact with and coordinate work of various IISL committees to ensure that the IISL efficiently provides input and guides formation of agenda of world space events. I will also seek to promote and structure Institute’s relations with the private space sector to explore synergies in development of regulatory framework applicable to space activities. In addition, I will seek to establish a more structured way to engagement and growth of the younger generation within the IISL. I will also aim to promote space law to the World Space Week theme to publicise its (and Institute’s) invaluable contribution to space activities.

Name, Surname of Nominator
P.J. Blount

Nominator's reasons for nominating the nominee
Dr. Doldirina is a reputable space lawyer who combines academic excellence with the practice of space law. Her contributions to EU space data policy, development of space law (including in Italy, on the EU level and elsewhere) and General Counsel role at D-Orbit, a space logistics New Space company, give her a clear insight into future evolution of the regulatory framework for space activities. Through her current work for the New Space sector, she has extended her professional career from institutional and academic work to private actors. Dr. Doldirina in her role as the co-chair of the IAF IAC International Programme Committee, will contribute to a more streamlined relationship between the two organisations. Her directorship will benefit the IISL mission and membership goals.

Supporters:

Steven Freeland

Ian Grosner

Peter Martinez

Gina Petrovici

Lesley Jane Smith