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TEXT 2. INTERNATIONAL TREATIES



 

Five international treaties have been negotiated and drafted in the COPUOS:

· The 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the "Outer Space Treaty").

· The 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space (the "Rescue Agreement").

· The 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (the "Liability Convention").

· The 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched Into Outer Space (the "Registration Convention").

· The 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the "Moon Treaty").

The Outer Space Treaty is the most widely-adopted treaty, with 98 parties. The Rescue Agreement, the Liability Convention and the Registration Convention all elaborate on provisions of the Outer Space Treaty. U.N. delegates apparently intended that the Moon Treaty serve as a new comprehensive treaty which would supersede or supplement the Outer Space Treaty, most notably by elaborating upon the Outer Space Treaty's provisions regarding resource appropriation and prohibition of territorial sovereignty. The Moon Treaty has only 12 parties, and many consider it to be a failed treaty due to its limited acceptance. India is the only nation that has both signed the Moon Treaty and declared itself interested in going to the moon. India has not ratified the treaty; an analysis of India's treaty law is required to understand how this affects India legally.

In addition, the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water ("Partial Test Ban Treaty") banned the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space.

Consensus

The COPUOS operates on the basis of consensus, i.e. all committee and subcommittee delegates must agree on treaty language before it can be included in the final version of a treaty, and the committees cannot place new items on their agendas unless all member nations agree. One reason that the U.N. space treaties lack definitions and are unclear in other respects, is because it is easier to achieve consensus when language and terms are vague. In recent years, the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee has been unable to achieve consensus on discussion of a new comprehensive space agreement, and it is also unlikely that the Subcommittee will be able to agree to amend the Outer Space Treaty in the foreseeable future. Many space faring nations seem to believe that discussing a new space agreement or amendment of the Outer Space Treaty would be futile and time consuming, because entrenched differences regarding resource appropriation, property rights and other issues relating to commercial activity make consensus unlikely.

ISS agreement

In addition to the international treaties that have been negotiated at the United Nations, the nations participating in the International Space Station have entered into the 1998 Agreement among the governments of Canada, Member States of the European Space Agency, Japan, Russian Federation, and the United States of America concerning cooperation on the Civil International Space Station (the "Space Station Agreement"). This Agreement provides, among other things, that NASA is the lead agency in coordinating the member states' contributions to and activities on the space station, and that each nation has jurisdiction over its own module(s). The Agreement also provides for protection of intellectual property and procedures for criminal prosecution. This Agreement may very well serve as a model for future agreements regarding international cooperation in facilities on the Moon and Mars, where the first off-world colonies and scientific/industrial bases are likely to be established.

 







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