IISL Press Releases

October 18, 2010 at 2:46 pm | Posted in Space Law Current Events | Leave a comment

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

The International Institute of Space Law has released two press releases. First:

Press release IISL 2010-006
18 Oct 2010

The International Institute of Space Law (IISL) is pleased to announce establishment of the new website of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition at http://www.iislweb.org/lachsmoot/. The new website will further strengthen the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition, the only world-wide moot court competition where the finals are judged by three Judges from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial organ in the world and part of the United Nations.

The world finals of the Competition are held each year at the occasion of the International Astronautical Congress in the presence of the world’s top space lawyers. The most recent world finals were held in Prague, on Thursday 30 September 2010, with Judges Abdul Koroma, Peter Tomka and Leonid Skotnikov presiding. The world finals were won by the team from George Washington University (USA), with the team from the National University of Singapore finishing as first runner-up and the team from the University of Cologne (Germany) as second runner-up.

At Prague the IISL also celebrated its 50th anniversary as the most authoritative world-wide body of academics, professionals and practitioners in the field of space law. The IISL is the only such body with observer status in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, in addition to long-standing working relationships with such other authoritative bodies as the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), the International Law Association (ILA) and countless regional and national space agencies, institutes and academic bodies.

As a consequence, the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition enjoys the support not only of the ICJ but also of the large majority of the international space law community, be it academic, professional or practicing. Thus, the Competition will continue to encourage, inspire and challenge the young minds of students all around the world to delve into the current legal issues that space activities present.

The regional rounds of the Manfred Lachs are so far being organised for three regions. The regional round for North America continues to be organized by the Association of US Members of the IISL (AUSMISSL) (contact Dr. Milton (Skip) Smith at lachsmoot-northamerica@iislweb.org) and the regional round for Europe by the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) (contact Mr. Raphael Milchberg at lachsmoot-europe@iislweb.org).

Furthermore, Mr. Jason Bonin (contact at lachsmoot-asiapacific@iislweb.org) has been appointed as regional organiser and the Indonesian Centre for International Law (ISIL) as institutional host of the regional rounds for the Asia/Pacific region for the 2011 competition, to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, with the full concurrence of the Board of the IISL and the continuing express support from the International Court of Justice. This event will be celebrated by organising, concurrently with the regional round, a conference on space law in Jakarta, in June 2011.

Next year’s case is available at http://www.iislweb.org/docs/2011problem.pdf. The world finals will be held during the International Astronautical Congress in Capetown (South Africa), on 6 October 2011.

More information about IISL can be obtained by visiting the IISL website at http://www.iislweb.org/.

Second:

Press release IISL 2010-007
19 Oct 2010

At the occasion of the celebration of its 50th anniversary at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague, the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) presented several awards to distinguished members of the space law community during the Annual IISL Dinner on 30 September 2010.

Firstly, Prof. V. Kopal (Czech Republic) received the IISL Lifetime Achievement Award. Prof. Kopal has a long and outstanding career in space law amongst others as Chief of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, Chairman of the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS and General Counsel for IAF and IAA. In addition, he has taught space law for many years first at the Charles University of Prague, then at the University of Plzen. Prof. Kopal also is a longstanding Director and Vice-President of the Institute, and has published widely on many issues of space law.

Secondly, Dr S. Ospina (Colombia, United States) was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for her many contributions to the work of IISL, including the UN Highlights in Space Reports and the Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition. Dr Ospina is also a Director of the Institute, and a well-known author of many articles in the field.

Thirdly, Dr J.M. Contant (France) received the Certificate of Appreciation. Dr Contant serves as Secretary-General of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and in that capacity has contributed greatly to the successful cooperation of IAA and IISL as implemented in particular through a number of joint IAA/IISL conferences and the IAA/IISL Scientific /Legal Roundtables at the annual International Astronautical Congresses. Dr Contant also guided and supported UN recognition of the IISL as UNCOPUOS observer.

Finally, the Dr I.H.Ph. Diederiks-Verschoor Award for the best paper by a young author paper at the IISL Colloquium was awarded to Mr Philip De Man (University of Leuven, Belgium), for his paper entitled “The Commercial Exploitation of Outer Space and Celestial Bodies – A Functional Solution to the Natural Resource Challenge”.

More information about IISL can be obtained by visiting the IISL website at http://www.iislweb.org/.