The 66th Conference
of the International Law Association (ILA) at Buenos Aires in
1994 adopted the above mentioned Draft Convention formulated by
the ILA Space Law Committee. This Committee had worked on the
subject of Space Debris under the guidance of its Rapporteur
Prof. Maureen Williams and under the chairmanship of Prof.
Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel since a respective decision
at the ILA Conference in Soul in 1986. The ILA Space Law Committee
was supported by prominent scientific consultants such as Professors
Lubos Perek of the Czech Republic, Dieter Rex of
Germany and Humberto Ricciardi of Argentina.
Since 1992 three drafts had
been elaborated, circulated and discussed at various stages by
the ILA Space Law Committee. Finally the above mentioned Draft
was adopted by the Buenos Aires Conference by a formal Resolution
in 1994.
This Draft Convention is the
first concrete proposal for a legal instrument on space debris.
In 1994 the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space (COPUOS) placed the topic on the agenda of its Scientific
Sub-Committee, but has not yet put it on the agenda of its Legal
Sub-Committee.
In 1988 the Institute of Air
and Space Law of Cologne organized a Colloquium on "Environmental
Aspects in Outer Space - State of the Law and Measures of Protection".
The results are published in the proceedings "Environmental
Aspects of Activities in Outer Space", edited by Karl-Heinz
Böckstiegel, Cologne, 1990.
The Draft is published
in:
- Böckstiegel, ILA Draft Convention on Space Debris, German Journal of Air and Space Law (ZLW) 1995, p. 29.
- ILA, Report of the 66th Conference held at Buenos Aires, Argentina, 14 to 20 August 1994, Buenos Aires 1994, 317 et seq.
Further information is
given in:
- Böckstiegel: Statement as the Representative of the ILA at the 41st Session of the COPUOS of the UN, Vienna, June 1998.
- Böckstiegel, Buenos Aires International Instrument on the Protection of the Environment from Damages caused by Space Debris, in: Space Policy 1996, p. 82 et seq.
- Malanczuk, Peter: Review of the Regulatory Regime Governing the Space Environment, ZLW 1991, p. 37 - 62.
Zurück zur Instituts-Titelseite
