This course is designed primarily for LLB students with specific interest in space related activities’ regulation and governance of Outer space. However, students from other programs familiar with International Law basics could also benefit and participate successfully.
OPEN TO IE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE FOLLOWING DEGREES (SINGLE AND DUAL): LLB, PPLE, BIR
The question of “what’s beyond” has always been a core drive for human evolution, a subject of everlasting philosophical, scientific and social debate. The natural human interest towards the unknown has taken men and women to long risky journeys, crossing oceans and discovering new lands. Outer Space is the ultimate reflection of this quest, where the scientific and technological progress in the last century permitted the humanity to break unthinkable before boundaries. During the Cold War the space race opened a new chapter of the evolution and its governance became a political necessity. The main state actors agreed on coordination and cooperation of space related activities resulting in a construction of a comprehensive legal framework. Space law, as a subdomain of the International law, has as a primary goal to guarantee rational and responsible approach to the use of outer space for the benefit of all mankind. Today, when our society is faced with continuous and exponential technological transformation resulting in radical socio-economic changes, interests to further exploitation of Outer space raise questions of moral, political, financial and legal nature. Knowledge on the main legal instruments and principles of space law is a key element in confronting these challenges and to prepare the humanity an exciting and trying future.
The course aims to provide students with some basic understanding on key legal principles and rules in the context of the current strategic and legal problems pertaining to space activities. It offers the chance to be familiarized with the concepts, terminology and constructs of international space law as part of the international public law. It also touches upon open questions on the boundary between public and private, such as remote sensing, space debris, exploitation of the Moon and other celestial bodies etc. Some aspects related to safety and security like planetary defence or arms control in Outer Space are also included in the curriculum.
