Res Communis

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

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The first presentation of the second day was given by Prof. V.S. Mani, Director of the School of Law and Governance, Jaipur National University. He presentation was titled Current Status and Recent Developments in India’s National Space Law and Policy and Its Relevance to Pacific Rim Space Law and Activities.

Prof. Mani stated that in the case of India it is important to consider policy as well as law when looking at India’s space program. He attributed this to the rich cultural heritage of India. He said that the foundations for the development of space technology can be traced back to the early days of independent India when the foundation was laid for six science and technology universities.

He next discussed the development of the India Space Research Organization (ISRO). He said that the Indian space program developed in three phases: 1) evaluation of space science and technology to Indian conditions, 2) the experimental phase, and 3) the real space application stage, which saw the development of the commercial arm of ISRO. He said that India is currently seeking to engage in human lunar space flight. He said that ISRO was an off shoot of the Department of the Atomic Energy. The space department was established under Article 73 of the Indian Constitution, which gives the executive power to establish departments. ISRO works cooperatively with many other departments such as those dealing with telecommunications, ocean development, and defense. Mani emphasized the importance of space applications to developing countries. He said that these technologies were very important to the process of development and and addressing the needs of these countries, and that this idea is foundational for the Indian space program.

Finally, he turned to India’s role in space law making. He stated that India played a crucial role in negotiating the major space treaties. He specifically noted the Indian delegate’s role in developing the liability regimes in the Liability Convention. He said that in India, there are several laws that pertain to space, but that is due to the breadth with which the laws were drafted and not necessarily an intent to include space as the subject of these laws. India lacks an overarching space legislation to encompass all its international obligations flowing from its ratification of the space treaties, despite the constitutional mandate under Article 51 to respect all its international obligations arising from international law, and despite the authorisation that Article 253 gives Parliament to enact laws for implementation and incorporation of treaties and decisions of international conferences to which India is a party. Be that as it may, India has by now developed a wide range of laws to cover the telecommunications – an area of immediate concern of India’s space application a policy. He stated that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Act and Information Technology Act are important in this respect. The first enactment brings in an independent authority to oversee telecommunications related matters, and if necessary to adjudicate disputes. Also, he said that Article 51 of the Indian Constitution requires India to comply with International obligations, and that the Constitution sets out a regime for the implementation of International law into domestic law. He concluded by pointing out that numerous policies have been promulgated, but no direct laws on space activities in India exist. Prof. Mani stated that a law was needed, but there was work to be done in determining what model India should follow for its law.

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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: 印度

本会的第二天(5/21/09), 第一个演讲者是斋浦尔国立大学政法学院院长维•斯•梅尼(V.S. Mani)教授，其演讲的题目为“印度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”。

梅尼教授首先强调要理解印度空间项目不仅要看该国的法律，而且也要考虑该国的政策。这一点跟印度的丰富文化背景密切相关。印度发展空间科技的来源也离不开其建国时期所制定的六所科技大学。

接着，梅尼教授谈到印度空间研究组织(ISRO)的发展。据其介绍，印度空间项目的发展史可分为三个阶段：第一阶段可说成是估计空间科技与印度的现状阶段； 第二阶段是试验性阶段； 第三阶段才是真正空间应用阶段。 后者也包括印度空间研究组织发展其商业部门。现在印度正在试图搞载人月球空间飞行。随后，梅尼教授指出发展是ISRO源头。对此他做了进一步的解释，他说该组织是从印度核能源部门分离出来的，而印度的空间部门又是根据《宪章》第七十二条授权行政院建立部门所建立的，因此ISRO同印度政府的其他部门（例如通信，海洋发展以及国防部门）就须常常合作。梅尼教授强调空间应用科技对发展中国家的重要性。他认为此项技术在国家发展中可起到重要作用，同时还可针对性地解决发展中所碰到的问题，由此可见，这种思路是印度空间项目的基础。

最后梅尼教授谈到印度在国际空间立法中的角色。他认为在主要空间条约的谈判中，印度起到了关键性的作用。他以为制定《责任条约》中的责任制，印度代表所做出的贡献为例，他说尽管在印度法律中，有几条涉及到空间活动，但从这些法律的广泛性来看，以及在它们的起草过程中，空间活动从未被考虑进去。他认为《通信授权法》及印度《宪章》第五十一条（该条要求政府履行其缔约国义务）以及《宪章》所制定的在国内执行国际法的制度，都对印度的空间活动非常重要。梅尼教授说虽然印度颁布过不少空间政策，但还没有一项针对空间活动的专门法律，因而他认为印度确实需要一个空间法。印度有关部门也正在研究筛选那些所须参照的符合印度国情的法律条文，力图研究出一部适合印度的空间法。