This year’s Symposium will consider Space Law for the Global Space Economy.
The updated programme of the event can be found here.
The UN COPUOS Legal Subcommittee will convene in Vienna from 23 of March – 3 of April 2020.
About the IISL/ECSL Symposium:
This event is co-organised annually with the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) and takes place at the opening of the annual session of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) in Vienna, Austria. The IISL and ECSL are both observers at the Legal Subcommittee.
This Symposium brings together academic experts and leading practitioners in the field of space law, policy and regulation to discuss pressing issues and to propose solutions to the international community.
More information about the work of the Legal Subcommittee and previous IISL/ECSL Symposia is available on our website and on the website of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs.
The annual awards had been in four categories hitherto:
- Lifetime Achievement Award
- Distinguished Service Award
- Award of Appreciation
- Certificate of Gratitude
The Institute calls for nominations in prescribed forms for the 2020 IISL Awards in the above categories, to be sent before the deadline of 29 February 2020.
Nominations must be submitted electronically to [email protected] by filling and e-mailing the prescribed form, and providing all the required information and documentation.
Nomination forms and eligibility criteria for each category, and the procedure for nominations, can be accessed on the IISL website under “awards and competitions” at http://iislweb.org/awards-and-competitions/annual-awards/. The list of past awardees can also be found on the same page. As the scope of the IISL Awards is global and is not limited to IISL members, all members are urged to actively participate and nominate.
Given the public health situation in China, the Moot Court Committee has been conferring for the past two weeks with IISL members in the AP Region regarding the AP Orals. We have made difficult decisions that are sure to disappoint many, but the health and safety of our students, coaches, judges and others involved with the competition is paramount. We have evaluated the potential of moving the oral competition and other options. Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Committee has decided as follows:
The AP orals are cancelled for 2020 and the winning team will be identified by Memorial grades alone. If the public health situation improves substantially by the end of March, the Moot Court Committee will evaluate whether a vastly reduced oral competition, perhaps of the four teams with highest memorial scores, may be held in May – July, in China or somewhere else in AP. In such a situation, before making a final decision, the Committee would consult with the top four teams to evaluate ability to travel, etc. For now, however, all teams should proceed as if the AP Regional winner will be determined on Memorial scores alone. The AP deadline for submission of written memorials will be extended by at least two weeks.
Given the above, the IISL Moot Court Committee is consulting with the Beijing Institute of Technology regarding refunds to registered teams. Other details remain to be worked out.
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Responses to requests for clarification of the 2020 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition are now published. See for further information our Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition page and the 2020 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition Problem. We are looking forward to this year’s competition!
]]>The 11 European parties to the IGA, Member States of ESA, have reactivated the European International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement Coordination Committee (CC) to assess the necessity of an intergovernmental agreement as the basis for extending the ISS partnership to Lunar Gateway cooperation and Moon exploration and the potential role of the IGA therein. Based on this assessment, the CC will develop a European position for the ensuing negotiations with the international partners. The CC will be chaired by Amb. Stefano Queirolo Palmas (on the photo right). IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl (on the photo left) was elected Vice Chair. The European IGA Parties will be represented by the Chair, who will be joined by the Vice Chair in international negotiations. The CC will have the challenging task of establishing an appropriate intergovernmental legally binding framework for multilateral cooperation beyond Earth orbit.
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In Conjunction with: 2020 CHINA SPACE CONFERENCE
Together with the International Institute of Space Law Chinese Society of Astronautics, the China Institute of Space Law, and the Space Law Center of China National Space Administration, IISL is organizing the 2nd China Space Conference, which will take place on 23-25 April 2020 in Fuzhou, China.
For this conference, we invite submissions according to the announcement, which you can find here. Abstracts are due by 15 February 2020. IISL and the co-organisers will be pleased about a strong interest!
Highlights include:
- New Year’s Address from the IISL President
- News and Announcements
- IISL @ 2019 Zhuhai International Space Symposium
- Third Annual All-Russian Meeting of the International Institute of Space Law ‘Half a Century in Action: International Space Law and Current Challenges’
- Member News
- Events Calendar
To read the newsletter, please visit here.
If you have items for the newsletter, please contact the editorial team of the IISL.
Did you get our newsletter last month? If not, sign up to keep in touch with the IISL Community!
CREATE A LOGO!
In 2020, the IISL is celebrating its 60th Anniversary! To mark the occasion, the IISL is having a competition to design a special 60th anniversary logo to be used throughout the year. All IISL members, prospective members and friends are eligible to enter the competition, and the winner will receive a copy of the most recent Proceedings of the IISL.
Please submit a .png or .pdf file with a minimum resolution of 300dpi to [email protected]. Entries should be received by 29 February 2020. Entries will be judged for creativity and capturing the spirit of the IISL as it celebrates its 60th year by the Board of Directors at its Spring Meeting. The winner logo will first be displayed at the IISL/ECSL Symposium held at the UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee meeting on 23 March 2020.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO MANY CREATIVE SUBMISSIONS!
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Happy New Year to you and your families and Happy New Year to our Institute! 2020 will see its 60th anniversary. Founded in 1960, IISL is an institution with a proud tradition and at the same time it is a young, creative and dynamic organisation through its outstanding membership. It is amazing how much our completely volunteer institution can accomplish through dedicated and engaged individuals. Throughout 2019 we saw this fulfilled by members, directors and officers through organising activities, providing platforms for exchanges and discussing the further development of space law. Our two flagships, the Colloquium at IACs and the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition become ever more popular as abstract submissions and teams participating in all world regions demonstrate.
Furthermore, we are continuously present in Washington D.C. (with the Eileen Galloway Symposium), Vienna (with the IISL/ECSL Symposium at the UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee) and now also in Moscow (with an annual members’ event at RUDN University) and China (with an annual symposium together with the Chinese Society of Astronautics) as well as in Colorado Springs (with special sessions at the Space Symposium). With this, IISL has now achieved a truly global outreach, which is essential for being as inclusive as possible. We are grateful to the members, who initated and organise these activities as Dennis Burnett, Joanne Gabrynowitcz, Olavo Bittencourt, Elina Morozova and Skip Smith.
This inclusiveness shall also be a main theme for this coming year. We are now launching the study group on the different approaches to space law after we have received a lot of interest in this initiative. The work of this study group shall lay the foundation of a better understanding, which perspectives space law has and which – also conflicting – concepts currently are emerging. There could be no better platform for such a study than IISL because of its global membership and expertise. Many more activities will be conducted in 2020 and our colloquia and symposia will tackle issues of high topicality and relevance for governmental and private space activities. IISL is continuously feeling the pulse of space activities and presents views and perspectives on how to create a legal framework, which supports the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space. 60 years into our existence, IISL can say with some confidence that it has for more than half a century convincingly contributed to the rule of law in outer space.
Yours sincerely,
Kai-Uwe Schrogl.
President IISL
