Res Communis

Pacific Rim National Space Law Summit: Canada / 环太平洋国家空间法会议: 加拿大

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The next presentation, Current Status and Recent Developments in Canada’s National Space Law and Its Relevance to Pacific Rim Space Law and Activities, was given by Bruce Mann, Sr. Counsel, Justice Legal Services Division, Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Mann began by highlighting Canada’s link to the Pacific Rim. He noted specifically that China is one of the largest customers for Canadian remote sensing data.

He then began a discussion of licensing issues under the Remote Sensing and Space Systems Act. He stated that three unusual licensing situations had occurred. This first concerned jurisdiction over non-Canadian operating Canadian-registred satellites from abroad. He said that this issue was highlighted by the proposed sale of RADARSAT-2 by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) to Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK); this sale was not approved by the Canadian government. He stated that due to the liability convention, Canada would be able to retain jurisdiction over such a satellite, under the Canadian legislation jurisdiction can be extended to a class of persons having a substantial connection to Canada. The next unusual licensing issue concerned satellite-detected marine information. He said that this issue arose from COM DEV’s proposal to receive maritime signals sent by vessels via satellite and gather the data in Canada. Canada determined that the legislation in Canada allowed the licensing of a “remote sensing system” and that since such a system would fall under the definition, thus Canada was competent to issue a license. The third issue dealt with operation of a ground station in Canada using foreign-owned satellites. Since a system includes ground stations as well as satellites, and since the legislation does not require the licensee to own the satellites, a license would be required.

He then moved into the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines. The concern with space debris was catalyzed, according to Mann, by China’s anti-satellite test, the Cosmos-Iridium collision, and debris incidents involving the International Space Station (ISS). He stated that Canada supports the Guidelines. He gave a short summary of how the guidelines minimize the creation of space debris. He stated that Canada does have a Space System Disposal Plan which governs that end of life disposal of satellites. Next he discussed to the governance of non-remote sensing satellites, stating that there was no on point legislation but that operators were asked to comply with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standards.

Mann then discussed liability in relation to the space debris. He said that the governing law is found in the Liability Convention, and that legal problems for damage caused by debris originate in Article IV. He stated that fault was the controlling factor and not where space debris originated. He stated though that these issues are very complex due to a variety of factors. He noted that there was the potential to allocate fault to a State that failed to take evasive measures, but that it was unclear whether these measures were required. Finally, he concluded that there were numerous unanswered questions in relation to debris, and that the risks were a strong incentive to follow the guidelines.

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Chinese translation by Ryan Grimm, J.D. Candidate, tulane University:

环太平洋国家空间法会议: 加拿大

与会第三位演讲者为加拿大外交外贸部司法服务厅高级律师布鲁斯•梅(Bruce Mann)，其演讲题目是关于“论澳大利亚空间法的法律现状与最新发展，及其与环太平洋空间法律和活动的相关性”。

梅先生首先强调了加拿大与环太平洋地区的密切关系，而中国作为加拿大遥感数据最大的客户就足以证明这一关系。

然后，梅先生就几个关系到加拿大《遥感与空间系统法》中的许可证问题进行了陈述。根据梅先生的介绍，最近已出现了三个异常的许可证的状况。第一个异常的许可证状况是涉及到非加拿大卫星操作者在加拿大登记，却于加拿大境外进行操作的管辖权问题。引发此项异常状况的是加拿大公司MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA)所提出的将该公司的RADARSAT-2 [雷达卫星2号系统] 销售给美国公司Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK)的贸易义项。虽然加拿大政府没有批准此项交易，但是梅先生却认为该贸易义项即使获得加拿大政府的批准，按照《责任公约》，加拿大还是可以对该卫星系统保持管辖权，因为加拿大法律中管辖权可以延伸到跟加拿大有重要关系的人；第二个异常的许可证状况涉及到的是卫星所检测的海洋信息。该异常状况来自加拿大COM DEV公司所提出的由加方接受来自船舶所传导的卫星的信号，再由地面站收集来自卫星所传导的海洋信号的数据。由于加拿大政府确定了本国法允许“遥感系统”许可证，而由传导卫星所发射的海洋信息也正属于该系统类型，因此加拿大政府就可以给该项目颁发许可证。第三个异常状况涉及到了加拿大的地面站对加国境外卫星系统的利用。由于任何一套遥感系统包括地面站和卫星，再加上加拿大法律不要求许可证持有者拥有卫星系统，因此持有加拿大政府所颁发的许可证对利用加国境外卫星系统的加拿大地面站是必要的。

梅先生接着谈及机构间空间碎片协调委员会(IADC)空间碎片减缓指南。他认为由于中国反卫星试验、美俄卫星(Cosmos-Iridium)太空相撞以及威胁国际太空战的空间粹片等事件引起了各国对空间粹片的关注。梅先生重申了加拿大政府对该指南的支持。接着他简短介绍了指南会如何减少空间粹片的产生，以及加拿大的空间系统处理计划所规范的对生命终止卫星的处理。随后，他的话题转向了对非遥感卫星的管理。虽然对此加拿大没有相关的立法，但加政府要求操作者根据国际通信联合的标准进行操作。

而后梅先生针对空间粹片的责任问题进行了论述。他认为可适用的相关法律条款在《责任公约》中有相关的陈述。此公约的第九条就概括了粹片所造成的损失的法律根源。他认为过失是控制因素造成的，而非空间粹片的来源。多方面的因素直接导致了问题复杂性。尽管没有采取躲避措施的国家有可能被定为过失方，但是到底需要采取哪些躲避措施又是没有明确界定的。最后梅先生概括地总结了仍未找到答案的空间粹片的问题，并据此指出与之相关的风险足够促使各方遵守空间碎片减缓指南。