It has been a busy week for space law activities for Adelaide Law School staff and students.
Professor Melissa de Zwart and Professor Dale Stephens visited colleagues at the University of Nebraska, College of Law, where discussions were held regarding upcoming joint teaching and research projects involving Adelaide Law School’s Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics and the Space, Cyber and Telecommunications Program at Nebraska, including the upcoming Post Graduate course: Strategic Space Law (https://www.adelaide.edu.au/course-outlines/107722/1/sem-1/), in which Professor Jack Beard from Nebraska will be a key presenter, to be taught in Adelaide 5-9 June 2017.
The focus then shifted to Montreal, Canada.
Lisa Saloukvadze
First, Adelaide Law students Joel Lisk, Caitlin Marshall, Shannon La Fontaine, Chloe Evans, Lisa Saloukvadze and Lukas Price provided contributions to the global Space Security Index publication (http://spacesecurityindex.org), prepared by Canadian based NGO Project Ploughshares. The students’ written research work and video summaries were presented to a group of space experts as part of the preparation for the 2017 Space Security Index. Their work was very well received by the reviewing experts. Professor Dale Stephens and Professor Melissa de Zwart are members of the Governance Board of the Space Security Index, a project involving the University of Adelaide, McGill University, George Washington University, The Simons Foundation and Xi’ian Jiaotong University. The annual report is presented each year to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and is recognised as a key contribution to maintaining understanding of global space security.
Professor de Zwart then presented at a panel, chaired by Cesar Jaramillo
Professor Melissa de Zwart with fellow panellists
Executive Director, Project Ploughshares, addressing issues of ‘Space Security in the context of the 50th Anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty’. Fellow panellists were Laura Grego, Union of Concerned Scientists and co-ordinator of the technical advisory group to the MILAMOS project; David Kendall, current Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space; and Paul Meyer, former Canadian Ambassador, Fellow in International Security and Adjunct Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University and a Senior Fellow with the Simons Foundation.
Later in the week, Professor Melissa de Zwart and Adelaide Law School PhD Candidate (and former Air Force Legal Officer) Duncan Blake presented at the 5th Manfred Lachs International Conference on Global Space Governance and the UN 2030 Agenda.
Professor de Zwart’s presentation focused on commercial space, examining the issues of space governance in the private sector, and considering the role of Corporate Social Responsibility: ‘Domestic Space Legislation: Guidelines for Sustainability in Commercial Space’. Duncan Blake, who is also the Deputy Editor in Chief of MILAMOS, presented on ‘The Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space’, a major international research project led by the University of Adelaide and McGill University, of which Professor Dale Stephens is the Editor in Chief: https://www.mcgill.ca/milamos/home.