Legal Liability in Outer Space — the New Treaty
| Author | Cyril E.S. Horsford |
| Date | 01 June 1972 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711787200400202 |
| Published date | 01 June 1972 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
137
LEGAL
LIABILITY
IN
OUTER
SPACE —
THE
NEW
TREATY
CYRIL
E.
S.
HORSFORD
Some
five
years
after
the
signing
of
the
United
Nations
Treaty
on
Principles
governing
the
Exploration
and
Use
of
Outer
Space
in
1967,
the
third
major
international
space
agreement
was
signed
in
Moscow
on
March
29th,
1972
by
23
states.
Following
the
now
famous
U.N.
General
Assembly
Resolution
in
December
1961,
the
efforts
of
the
U.N.
Legal
Sub-Committee
to
achieve
an
international
treaty
on
general
principles
of
conduct
in
outer
space
finally
succeeded
in
1967,
and
in
the
following
year
an
Agreement
to
provide
for
the
rescue
and
return
of
astronauts
and
space
vehicles
which
land
on
the
high
seas
or
in
foreign
territory
was
also
signed,
and
fulfilled
a
need,
particularly
on
the
part
of
the
Soviet
Union,
to
provide
for
world
safety
coverage
for
astronauts
on
the
increasing
number
of
manned
flights.
Although
the
general
principle
of
international
liability
for
damage
caused
by
space
activities
had
been
incorporated
into
Articles
VI
and
VII
of
the
1967
Treaty,
many
international
lawyers,
and
indeed
some
of the
smaller
states
(possibly
as
a
quiz
pro
qiio
for
the
1968
Astronaut
Agreement)
had
urged
that
these
provisions
should be
specifically
spelt
out
in
a
liability
treaty,
and
negotiations
on
this
were
conducted
over
a
long
period
by
the
Legal
Sub-Committee.
Various
drafts
were
proposed
by
Italy,
Belgium,
the
United
States,
Hungary
and
India.
It
had
been
generally
agreed
that
strict
or
absolute
liability
should
attach
in
respect
of
ground
damage
caused
by
a
launching
state,
but
disagreements
remained
over
such
matters
as
joint
and
several
liability
in
international
projects,
the
measure
of
damages
or
compensation,
and
the
standard
to
be
adopted
in
relation
to
spacecraft
in
orbit
which
might
collide
with
or
damage
other
spacecraft.
There
was
also
wide
discrepancy
of
views
as
to
the
applicable
law.
However,
on
June
28th,
1971,
a
final
draft
con-
vention
was
agreed
on
by
the
drafting
committee
and
submitted
to
the
General
Assembly
for
approval.
Its
principal
provisions
are
summarised
with
comments
as
follows : -
ARTICLE
I.
This
section
defines
the
various
terms
used,
and
’damage’
is
taken
to
mean
loss
of
life,
personal
injury
or
impairment
of
health,
loss
of
or
damage
to
property
of
states,
or
to
persons,
natural
or
legal,
and
property
of
international
organisations.
&dquo;Launching&dquo;
includes
attempted
launching,
and
&dquo;Launching
state&dquo;
means
a
state
which
procures
a
launch,
or
from whose
territory
a
launching
takes
place,
as
well
as
a
state
which
actually
launches
a
space
object
itself.
A
&dquo;space
object&dquo;
includes
all
its
component
parts.
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