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Outer Space, Antarctica, and the United Nations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

Philip C. Jessup  and
Howard J. Taubenfeld
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Extract

Some of the current spate of writing about outer space is so highly imaginative as to discourage serious students of international organization and law from pursuing detailed studies of very real problems which now confront the UN. Antarctic possibilities are only slightly less fabulous and some of the problems there raised may be even more immediate. There are those who are troubled by the difficulty of mastering a new massive subject matter some of which is shrouded in unfamiliar scientific terminology and some of which is imprisoned in official security classifications. Actually these difficulties are no greater here than elsewhere. A study of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) like Codding's required familiarity with pulse radionavigation systems as well as voting procedures; the political and legal delegates to the recent Geneva Conference on the Law of the Sea were also required to deal with hydrography and ichthyology. The dark shadow of secret archives clouds the crystal ball for many a student of international relations who wishes to edge up on the contemporaneous scene. When charged with inadequacies, the present writers will not “take the Fifth” but will plead guilty.

Type
Articles
Information
International Organization , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , Summer 1959 , pp. 363 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 1959

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References

1 Codding, , The International Telecommunication Union; an Experiment in International Cooperation, 1952Google Scholar.

2 Document A/C.I/SR.986.

3 Clark, Rear Admiral, “Programming for Space Defense,” JAG Journal, 02 1959, p. 20, 21Google Scholar. DrBerkner, Lloyd sees early and revolutionary use of radio-relay satellites for long distance telephoning, The New York Times, 05 7, 1959Google Scholar.

4 Space Handbook, p. 5. See also “Space Flight: A Look Ahead,” Astronautics, 11 1958, p. 24–28Google Scholar.

5 Ibid., p. 6. See also p. 74–76. The American Pioneer IV was tracked some 400,000 miles in March 1959 and, by 1962, it is predicted that communications at a range of 4 billion miles will be possible. The New York Times, March 4, 1959, p. 1, col. 1.

6 See The New York Times, April 9, 1959, p. 1, col. 5, and February 3, 1959, p. 1. See also NASA, Some Thoughts on the Next Decade of Space Exploration, 11, 1958Google Scholar.

7 See Hearings before the NASA Authorization Subcommittee of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate, 86th Cong., 1st Sess., or S. 1582, Part I, p. 120, 408–415. Von Braun has guessed that there may be a man on the Moon by 1963, The New York Times, August 29, 1958, p. 7. General Schriever estimates a moon landing by 1966 and a moon base by 1970, at great expense. See Hearing on H. R. 11881, p. 633.

8 San Francisco Chronicle, March 29, 1959, Sect. 1, p. 1.

9 Radioteknika, January 1959. See also Schwarz, Harry, The New York Times, 04 26, 1959, p. 32Google Scholar.

10 I.C.J. Reports 1956, p. 12, 15.

11 Documents A/3118, February 21, 1956, and A/3852, July 15, 1958.

12 Department of State Bulletin, 01 28, 1957 (Vol. 36, No. 918), p. 124Google Scholar; and ibid., February 11, 1957 (Vol. 36, No. 920), p. 226, 227.

13 Ibid., December 16, 1957 (Vol. 37, No. 964). p. 961.

14 Document A/3818, March 17, 1958.

15 Document A/3902, September 2, 1958.

16 See Document A/C.I/L.219, November 7, 1958, and, for the supporting reasoning, the statement by Mr. Zorin, Document A/C.I/SR.982, November 12, 1958, p. 2–5. Curbs on the use of space were also proposed by the United States at about this time in the “surprise attack” talks then in progress. The New York Times, November 5, 1958, p. 5, col. 1.

17 The others were Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, France, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Turkey, Union of South Africa, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

18 Document A/C.I/L.220.

19 Document A/C.I/L.219/Rev.I, November 19, 1958.

20 Document A/C.I/L.220/Rev.I, November 21, 1958.

21 Documents A/C.I/L.224 and Rev.I, November 24, 1958.

22 See, generally, Report of the First Committee, Document A/4009, November 28, 1938.

23 See Document A/C.I/SR.995, November 24, 1958, p. 15.

24 General Assembly Resolution 1348 (XIII), December 13, 1958.

25 Press Conference of Ambassador Sobolev, The New York Times, 04 28, 1959, p. 8Google Scholar.

26 See speeches of Ambassador Lodge, DrDryden, (Deputy Administrator of NASA), and MrBecker, (Legal Adviser of the Department of State), who were alternative representatives, Department of State Bulletin, 06 15, 1959 (Vol. 40, No. 1042), p. 883ffGoogle Scholar. See also the Draft Working Papers submitted by the United States Delegation in Documents A/AC.98/L.I/Rev.I and A/AC.98/L.2.

27 UN Press Releases PM/3728, May 6, 1959, and OS/4, May 7, 1959.

28 See Documents A/AC.98/2. A/AC.98/3, and A/AC.98/4. The substantive points are discussed below.

29 But the Soviets have also raised the “parity” issue in this heretofore largely non-political milieu; see Sullivan, Walter, The New York Times, 04 28, 1959Google Scholar.

30 T.I.A.S. 1799.

31 See Padelford, Norman J., “Regional Cooperation in the South Pacific: Twelve Years of the South Pacific Commission,” in this issue, p. 380–393Google Scholar.

32 What the Agency would decide to do is another matter; see von Mehren, , “The International Atomic Energy Agency in World Politics,” Journal of International Affairs, 1959 (Vol. 13, No. 1), p. 57Google Scholar.

33 As IMCO's history indicates, no criterion is assured of automatic application; see Jessup, , “The United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea,” 59 Col. Law Rev. 234, 257 (1959)Google Scholar.

34 See Gray, , Spitzbergen and Bear Island, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919Google Scholar.

35 This term in international law usually implies that the territory may be acquired and submitted to the sovereignty of a state, or states. It would seem to have been more appropriate to use the term rescommunis.

36 Parenthetically, one may observe that except for naval or other military personnel it is doubtful whether an American committing a theft or a killing in Antarctica today would violate any law since no law is applicable.

37 General Assembly Official Records (5th session). Supplement No. 9, Document A/1286, 1950Google Scholar.

38 See Document ST/DPI/SER.A.70, 1952.

39 Treaty of Peace with Italy, 49 U.N.T.S.3, Arts. 4,21,22 and Annexes VI–X.

40 Cmd. 2096, 1924, Cmd. 2203, 1924, and T.I.A.S. 2752.

41 III Malloy, Treaties, 2966.

42 The Eurochemic Convention and Statute are in Progress in Nuclear Energy, Series X, Law and Administration, Vol. 1, ed. Marks, Herbert S., 1959, p. 916–926Google Scholar.

43 This latter device was used in setting up Eurofima in 1955 and the International Company of the Moselle in 1957.

44 Final Report of the Commission for Maritime Meteorology of the WMO, London, July 14–29, 1952, WMO—No. 10.RP.2; Res. of the Exec. Comm. Res. 24 (EC-III).

45 And would not all countries be interested in being able to telephone anywhere in the world for twenty cents through the use of radio-relay satellites, as forecast by DrBerkner, Lloyd in his recent address as President of the International Scientific Radio Union? The New York Times, 05 7, 1959Google Scholar.

46 Cf. MrBecker's, views in Department of State Bulletin, 09 15, 1958 (Vol. 39, No. 1003), p. 416, and JAG Journal, February 1959, p. 4Google Scholar.

47 At the insistence of the Argentine representative, the language of an early draft was modified to avoid the possibility that it might be interpreted to mean that Antarctica is res communis rather than subject to national sovereignty.

48 The United States has also suggested that the problem of relations with extraterrestrial life has a very low priority. Document A/AC.98/L.7.

49 Document A/AC.98/L.10.

50 As finally approved, the suggested role of an Assembly Committee would include the following function:

“(a) To provide a focal point for facilitating international cooperation with respect to outer space activities undertaken by Governments, specialized agencies, and international scientific organizations;

(b) To study practical and feasible measures for facilitating international cooperation, including those indicated by the Ad Hoc Committee in its report under paragraph 1 (b) of the resolution;

(c) To consider means, as appropriate, for studying and resolving legal problems which may arise in the carrying out of programmes for the exploration of outer space;

(d) To review, as appropriate, the subject-matter entrusted by the General Assembly to the Ad Hoc Committee in resolution 1348 (XIII)Google Scholar.”