Res Communis

Pacific Rim National Space Law Summit: China / 环太平洋国家空间法会议: 中国

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

After Lunch, Prof. Dr. Li Juqian, Associate Professor Council-Member of China Institute of Space Law, Director of Public International Law Research Institute School of International Law, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) Beijing, China presented Current Legal Status and Recent Developments in Chinese Space Law and Its Relevance to Pacific Rim Space Law and Activities.

Prof. Li began with a discussion of the status quo and characteristics of space law in China. He stated that academics think China needs a national space law. However, China’s space law is not as developed as that in other States, and that one must examine the hierarchies of law in China to fully understand its space law regime. He said that China’s space law is low on the hierarchy since it is in the form of ministerial rules and that there is no space law at the national level. He also noted that rules are made by different ministries, and this may result in conflicts.

The next portion of his presentation dealt with the main space regulations in China and their relationship with international space law. He stated that the Chinese ministerial regulations on the Administering Methods on Registration of Space Objects and Provisional Administering Methods on the Permits for Civil Space Launch Activities, which were both promulgated by Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). He said that these regulations were instrumental in helping China to fulfill its international obligations. COSTIND, however, has not existed since March 2008. Some of its functions have been taken by other ministries and the Chinese Space National Agency (CSNA).

Prof. Li then submitted four factors that should be considered when developing a basic space law for China: compliance with international law, reference to the legislative experience of other countries, integration and codification of existing regulations and other regulatory documents, and developmental trends.

Finally, he addressed the interaction of international treaties and national law. He stated that international conventions must be applied, and that China’s legal system supported the application of treaties and their direct implementation in China. He mentioned that in addition to multilateral treaties, bilateral treaties and the influence of foreign legislation will be valuable in developing Chinese space law.

He concluded that development of the law will not be synchronized with the development of technology; international treaties are very influential on Chinese space law; the effect and executive power of regulatory documents should be more specific; and that Chinese legislation has a long way to go and due to the number on entities that need to be involved it can not be done in a short period of time that is five years.

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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: 中国

午饭后, 中国空间法学会理事、中国政法大学副教授、国际公法研究所所长, 中国政法大学副教授李居迁博士发表了演讲。其演讲题目为“中国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”。

李博士首先就中国空间法律规定的现状与特点进行了概括。他指出虽然中国的有关空间法律规定没有其他国家那么发达，然而为了了解它，必须搞清楚中国法律的等级体系。李博士在演讲中提到中国有关空间的法律规定只有等级体系中最低等级的部门规章，并没有国家层面的空间法。他还强调指出由于该规章由不同部门颁发、因而容易产生冲突。

接着，李博士介绍了中国的主要有关空间的规章及其与国际空间法的关系。李博士所提到的相关规章包括了国防科学技术工业委员会(COSTIND)颁发的《空间物体登记管理办法》与《民用航天发射项目许可证管理暂行办法》。他说为使中国可以履行其相关的国际义务，这两条规章是非常重要的。

随后，李博士提出了中国在制定的一套基本空间法时，所需考虑到的四个因素，即遵守国际法律，参照他国的立法经验，整合与编纂现有的法规及规范性文件及其发展动向。

然后李博士就国际条约与国内法律的相互作用，及中国必须执行的国际条约进行了简要概述。在其概述中李博士指出该法律体系也并不妨碍国际条约的直接执行。除了多边条约之外，还有双边条约和外国立法都为中国发展空间法提供了珍贵的参照。

李博士归纳性总结了人为法律的发展与科技的发展是不相配的；国际条约对中国的空间法的影响是很大的；规范性文件的效力与执行力度应更为具体。最后李博士强调指出中国的空间立法还有很长的路要走，然而由于所涉及到的相关部门繁多，所以不会在近期之内完成。