Book Reviews : State Liability for Outer Space Activities in Accordance with the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects by Bruce A. Hurwitz. Martinus Nijhoff , Utrecht Studies in Air & Space Law. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992, pp. 245. £61
| DOI | 10.1177/004711789401200208 |
| Date | 01 August 1994 |
| Published date | 01 August 1994 |
| Author | Sylvia Maureen Williams |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
67
tion
to
stand
and
fight
effectively
against
the
North
Vietnamese.’
As
the
old
King
of
Naples
used
to
say
of
his
army,
’You
can
dress
them
in
red,
in
blue
or
in
green;
but
whichever
you do
they
will
run.’
Perhaps
they
were
lucky
not
to
have
had
an
aid
programme.
Aberdeen
University
ANTHONY
SHORT
State
Liability
for
Outer
Space
Activities
in
Accordance
with
the
1972
Conven-
tion
on
International
Liability
for
Damage
Caused
by
Space
Objects
by
Bruce
A.
Hurwitz.
Martinus
Nijhoff ,
Utrecht
Studies
in
Air
&
Space
Law.
Kluwer
Academic
Publishers,
1992,
pp. 245.
£61.
The
author,
who
is
a
member
of
the
International
Institute
of
Space
Law
and
has
a
doctorate
in
International
Relations,
here
undertakes
a
detailed
analysis
of
the
draft-
ing
history
of
the
1972
Liability
Convention.
The
intention
of
the
negotiators
(Pre-
amble)
and
the
terminology
(article
I)
are
carefully
scrutinized.
This
allows
him
to
affirm
that
the
Convention
is
victim-oriented
even
though
this
has
to
be
read
together
with
the
reference
to
’full
and
equitable
compensation’.
The
author
concludes
that
this
is
the
first
compromise
between
the
competing
interests
of
space
powers
and
non-
space
powers.
Indeed,
compromises
were
both
thorny
and
frequent
throughout
the
patient
discussion
of
this
text
at
the
COPUOS.
As
to
terminology,
special
attention
is
given
to
the
term
’damage’
and
the
position
of
the
drafters
of
the
Convention,
particularly
bearing
in
mind
that
they
belonged
to
different
legal
systems.
The
writer
holds,
on
the
basis
of
the
victim-oriented
approach
of
the
Convention,
that
both
direct
and
indirect
impairments
of
health
are
encompassed
in
the
definition.
In
this
regard,
the
Argentinian
Ambassador
A.A.
Cocca
is
quoted
when
he
proposed
at
the
COPUOS
that
the
Convention
speak
of’all
damage’,
i.
e.
that
it
be
unrestricted.
Unfortunately,
such
a
clear
formula
failed
to
be
included
because
it
was
thought
likely
to
entail
’codification
problems’.
The
term
’launching’
used
in
the
Convention
is
the
object
of
severe
criticism
and,
in
the
end,
considered
unacceptable
because
it
does
not
estab-
lish
with
precision
what
should
come
under
that
term
(except
that
tentative
launchings
are
included).
The
term
must
be
sufficiently
broad,
the
author
contends,
to
protect
third
parties
from
damage
caused
at
any
stage.
After
very
subtle
remarks
concerning
the
meaning
of
’space
object’,
the
nucleus
of
the
work,
namely
the
classification
of
liability,
is
subjected
to
a
profound
study.
Four
assumptions
are
considered:
absolute
liability,
fault
liability,
joint
and
several
liability
and
exoneration
from
liability.
The
pros
and
cons
of
each
are
examined
in
detail
including
recent
case
law
on
the
matter.
On
the
subject
of
exoneration,
Dr
Hurwitz
observes
that,
in
addition
to
negligence,
the
Convention
recognizes
that
damage
being
caused
to
nationals
or
foreign
guests
who
are
injured
by
space
objects
does
not
come
under
its
provisions.
In
fact,
a
full
chapter -
number
4 -
is
devoted
to
that
assumption
which,
obviously,
enshrines
a
principle
of
international
law
according
to
which
nationals
may
not
bring
international
claims
against
their
state
of
nationality.
To
put
it
in
simple
terms,
it
implies
that,
on
the
international
level,
nationals
will
have
no
recourse.
Yet,
they
may
bring
an
action
before
the
national
courts
under
the
law
of
the
launching
state.
On
this
basis,
the
author
raises
three
interesting
questions,
namely,
cases
of
dual
nationality,
of
joint
launchings
and
the
so
far
theoretical
possibility
of
a
national,
on
his
own
account,
working
for
the
space
programme
of
a
foreign
country.
Briefly,
the
author
considers
that
in
no
case
is
there
an
escape
for
a
launching
state
from
liability
on
the
interna-
tional
plane.
On
the
national
plane,
any
agreement
reached
with
private
enterprises
on
compensation
will
be
devoid
of
meaning
when
catastrophic
damage
has
to
be
paid.
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