Legal Ramifications

Hi Sean,

A very similar question was asked at the very first space committee
meeting in the House of Commons in London on the 1st May 1980. In that
case, the question was, if Otrag - a German company then testing rockets
in Zaire - built much larger rockets, and the Space Settlers' Society
got the funds together and paid them to send a colony of their members
off to an asteroid rich in valuable resources, and the Settlers then
began to mine and sell those resources, how would the UN Moon Treaty
(the 1979 Treaty - see files) affect this?

The answer given by Professor Bin Cheng, Professor of Aerospace Law at
Imperial College London, was that the Zairan armed forces would have to
go up to space, arrest the lot of us, and bring us back to Earth for
trial!

As you will appreciate, the M.P.s were shocked. This was in the early
days of Maggie Thatcher's government, and the idea that they were being
asked to ratify a Treaty that would forbid capitalism in space was
anathema. As a direct result, the UK, like the US and the Soviet Union,
though for different reasons, did not ratify that Treaty, and
accordingly UK, US and Soviet citizens are not bound by it.

Unfortunately however, the 1967 Treaty implies more or less the same
thing, and we did ratify that one, so we are bound by it. I guess the US
Armed Forces would have to go arrest King Sean and bring him back to
Earth for trial.

Don't you think it is time folk, that we got that 1967 Treaty replaced?

Best wishes, Andy.

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