• Title/Summary/Keyword: International space law

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The Study on EU ETS (欧盟航空减排交易体制评析) -From the Perspective of China-

  • Qin, Huaping
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.127-145
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    • 2011

  • European Union unilaterally included the emissions from aviation activities into EU ETS on 19 November 2008 by amending Directive 2003/87/EC. According to the Directive all the emissions(mainly against the CO2) from aviation activities shall be subject to the regulation of EU ETS from 2012. For the period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012, the total quantity of allowances to be allocated to aircraft operators shall be equivalent to 97% of the historical aviation emission s. From 1 January 2013, the allowances will be reduced to 95%. The allocation of allowances which may be applied by each operator with free of charge will be reduced from 85% to 82% from 1 January 2012 to 1 January 2013. Since the Directive will affect every country's airline industry more or less, the nations and international organizations respond variously. The controversial focus is that whether EU has the right to unilaterally include the emissions from international aviation activities into EU ETS. This article firstly analyzes the effect caused by EU ETS to China's airline industry, and then studies the legality of the action of EU subject to current positive international law, and finally draws the conclusion that EU enjoys no such right to unilaterally include the emissions from international aviation activities.

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A Comparative Study between Space Law and the Law of the Sea (우주법과 해양법의 비교 연구)

  • Kim, Han-Taek
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.187-210
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    • 2009

  • Space law(or outer space law) and the law of the sea are branches of international law dealing with activities in geographical ares which do not or do only in part come under national sovereignty. Legal rules pertaining to the outer space and sea began to develop once activities emerged in those areas: amongst others, activities dealing with transportation, research, exploration, defense and exploitation. Naturally the law of the sea developed first, followed, early in the twentieth century, by air law, and later in the century by space law. Obviously the law of the sea, of the air and of outer space influence each other. Ideas have been borrowed from one field and applied to another. This article examines some analogies and differences between the outer space law and the law of the sea, especially from the perspective of the legal status, the exploration and exploitation of the natural resources and environment. As far as the comparisons of the legal status between the outer space and high seas are concerned the two areas are res extra commercium. The latter is res extra commercium based on both the customary international law and treaty, however, the former is different respectively according to the customary law and treaty. Under international customary law, whilst outer space constitutes res extra commercium, celestial bodies are res nullius. However as among contracting States of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, both outer space and celestial bodies are declared res extra commercium. As for the comparisons of the exploration and exploitation of natural resources between the Moon including other celestial bodies in 1979 Moon Agreement and the deep sea bed in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the both areas are the common heritage of mankind. The latter gives us very systematic models such as International Sea-bed Authority, however, the international regime for the former will be established as the exploitation of the natural resources of the celestial bodies other than the Earth is about to become feasible. Thus Moon Agreement could not impose a moratorium, but would merely permit orderly attempts to establish that such exploitation was in fact feasible and practicable, by allowing experimental beginnings and thereafter pilot operations. As Professor Carl Christol said until the parties of the Moon Agreement were able to put into operation the legal regime for the equitable sharing of benefits, they would remain free to disregard the Common Heritage of Mankind principle. Parties to one or both of the agreements would retain jurisdiction over national space activities. In so far as the comparisons of the protection of the environment between the outer space and sea is concerned the legal instruments for the latter are more systematically developed than the former. In the case of the former there are growing tendencies of concerning the environmental threats arising from space activities these days. There is no separate legal instrument to deal with those problems.

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International Legal Regulation for Environmental Contamination on Outer Space Activities (우주에서의 환경오염 방지를 위한 국제법적 규제)

  • Lee, Young-Jin
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.153-194
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    • 2009

  • The resources of outer space are for the common exploitation of mankind, and it is a common responsibility of mankind to protect the outer space environment. With the rapid development of space science and technology, and especially with the busy space activities of some major space powers, environmental contamination or space debris is steadily increasing in quantity and has brought grave potential threats and actual damage to the outer space environment and human activities in space. Especially We must mitigate and seek out a solution to remove space debris which poses a threat directly to man's exploitation and use of outer space activities in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and in the Geostationary Orbit (GEO), through international cooperation and agreement in the fields of space science, economics, politics and law, in order to safeguard the life and property of mankind and protect the earth's environment. While the issue of space debris has been the subject of scientific study and discussion for some time now, it has yet to be fully addressed within the context of an international legal framework. During the earlier stages of the space age, which began in the late 1950s, the focus of international lawmakers and diplomats was the establishment of basic rules which sought to define the legal nature of outer space and set out the parameters for space activities and the nature and scope of activities carried out in outer space were quite limited. Consequently, environmental issues and the risks that might arise from the generation of space debris did not receive priority attention within the context of the development international space law. In recent years, however, the world has seen dramatic advances in technology and increases in the type and number of space-related activities which are being carried out. In addition, the number of actors in this field has exploded from two highly developed States to a vast array of different States, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including private industry. Therefore, the number of artificial objects in the near-Earth space is continually increasing. As has been previously mentioned, COPUOS was the entity that created the existing five treaties, and five sets of legal Principles, which form the core of space law, and COPUOS is clearly the most appropriate entity to oversee the creation of this regulatory body for the outer space environmental problem. This idea has been proposed by various States and also at the ILA Conference in Buenos Aires. The ILA Conference in Buenos Aires produced an extensive proposal for such a regulatory regime, dealing with space debris issues in legal terms This article seeks to discuss the status of international law as it relates to outer space environmental problem and space debris and indicate a course of action which might be taken by the international community to develop a legal framework which can adequately cope with the complexity of issues that have recently been recognized. In Section Ⅱ,Ⅲ and IV of this article discuss the current status of international space law, and the extent to which some of the issues raised by earth and space environment are accounted for within the existing United Nations multilateral treaties. Section V and VI discuss the scope and nature of space debris issues as they emerged from the recent multi-year study carried out by the ILA, Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space ("COPUOS") as a prelude to the matters that will require the attention of international lawmakers in the future. Finally, analyzes the difficulties inherent in the future regulation and control of space debris and the activities to protect the earth's environment. and indicates a possible course of action which could well provide, at the least, a partial solution to this complex challenge.

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The legal regime of air charter in china

  • Cheng, Chia-jui
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.163-186
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    • 2007

  • Charter flight in international air law has, from very beginning, not precisely defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (lCAO) since 1947 when it came into being. By practice, the operation of charter traffic is, in its very beginning, the subject to the regulations of national rules and bilateral charter agreements (charter annex clause) within the framework of normal bilateral agreement of international air services. Taiwan had signed a series of bilateral air service agreement under the name of the Government of the Republic of China when Taiwan was recognized by the United Nations and major members of international community as the sole legal government representing China before 1971, but that situation was changed since then. Taiwan has only maintained diplomatic relations with 25 States, but maintained semi-official relations with major powers of the world. The former agreements were signed within the framework of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 while the latter agreements were signed within the framework of administrative and civil law of two countries which were not in the form of bilateral treaty signed by two sovereign States in its proper sense of international law. The legal regime of charter flights between Taiwan and Mainland China is regulated by special arrangements negotiated by delegated airlines and airlines association or private law institutions.

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