A New Frontier and A Brighter Tomorrow
2020 hasn't been the year that we thought it would be. It wasn't the celebatory year to welcome the new decade that is the 2020s and it certainly isn't a year that we'd thought would be normal. Indeed, the definition of what is normal in society, work and all facets of life have forever changed thanks to the challenges that COVID-19 has presented and the looming recession to come.
I suppose that change in itself is normal. That's been the natural progression of humanity's history. Change begins rather unexpectedly, and I believe that that uncertainty is what drives hope and innovation. For example, there are moments in history where there have been great civil injustices; such was the case in the 1960s civil rights era or the early 20th century during Australia’s White Australia policy. In these instances of inequality, there are always drivers for justice and movements pushing for equal societal changes. The world in the 20th century faced two world wars and out of those tragic events came the United Nations, de-colonisation and a solidification for greater civil rights. The world in the 21st century, however, has just started the new century, so I suppose we haven’t faced the entire brunt of what is coming to us, but we shouldn’t be too worried, we should instead put faith on our generation and what we can bring to the table.
As the next generation of professionals, we’re going to graduate equipped with skills to face the challenges of tomorrow. One such challenge that presents opportunities is that of humanity’s next frontier outside of Earth and into the stars; the area of law that is known as space law. While we can imagine such an area of law as one with great speculation and fantasy; one can take inspiration with the beautiful wording of space law’s treaties that promote international cooperation, trust and faith with each nation and private entity actors. It’s this beauty that I’d like to highlight and suggest that we look at this area of law as one that we can take inspiration from in our daily and professional lives in our push to create a brighter tomorrow in our own corners of existence with one and another.
What is Space Law?
Space law began in the Cold War, a moment in history that this student author submits to be quite similar to where we are now. A tense political atmosphere marked by a clash of cultures, new ideas, the advancement of technology and practices. What’s oddly beautiful about this tension is the fact that humanity put asides our differences when it came to matters regarding space. They did so in order to work together for the common good; that good being the regulation of our behaviour, interactions, disputes and claims we may have outside of Earth’s stratosphere. It’s only fitting that this area of law emerged at a time of great tension as space law highlights humanity’s capability and godlike potential to transcend the immediate chaos and realise our inner greatness within us all as humans if we can work together to achieve things outside what we previously thought was impossible. We managed to put a person in space and the moon. What else can we accomplish together?
What I mean by all this, is one must look at the United Nations Treaties, and Principles adopted by the General Assembly regarding space law to see the hopes and dreams that yesterday’s pioneers and leaders have for future generations.
For example, Article I of the Outer Space Treaty proclaims the:
“exploration and use of outer space...shall be carried out for the benefit and
interest of all countries irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific
development, and shall be the province of all mankind.”
Article II furthermore demonstrates that outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, occupation or by any other means. Article IV moreover indicates that the states shall not put any weapons of mass destruction in space, and that Article V of the treaty regards astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space. Another equally beautiful article from this treaty is Article XVII which indicates that the treaty shall be regarded as equally authentic in Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts. As one can see from these examples provided, the wording from these articles from one treaty in space law nurtures such beautiful dialogues of international cooperation, faith and trust with one another. Certainly, dialogues in which humanity is united to push for something for our common good.
A New Frontier and A Brighter Tomorrow?
I admit as an author; I’m full of naive dreams and hopes about our species. In this article, I’ve only touched the surface that is the vast space of law that is space law. Space law certainly has areas where one can be skeptical of, certainly with regards to commercial practicalities, SETI (highly recommend you look into this rabbit hole) and the issue of custom as well as celestial bodies. However, my naivety is not without warrant. I choose to talk about this area of law from a base surface to highlight it’s beautiful wording of its treaties and legislation as a reminder that humanity’s outward intention was always the betterment and advancement of each other. It’s beautiful in the sense that it’s about something that we do not yet have control of, so we must fall back to our inner human instinct of trust and cooperation so that we may create a new frontier and a brighter tomorrow for all.
Space law is full of uncertainty and certainty; however, it’s an area of law that I welcome for being a reminder that humanity can triumph over anything if we put aside our differences for the common good of all. The only issue in this regard is the if. The if which underpins human greed and distrust. However, I have faith that we can transcend even this selfishness when push comes to shove, and we have to create a brighter tomorrow for future generations through legislation or societal movements. We all have a role to play and that role being to create positive change for the real world that we all inhabit.
Article written by Gideon Caturla
This article appeared in the Torts Illustrated 2.5. Begin Again (2020) Publication