Thevalidation of commercial contracts drafted in outer space; towards a lex mercatoria spatialis?
- Paper number
IAC-11,E7,1,19,x11793
- Author
Mr. Eduard van Asten, The Netherlands
- Year
2011
- Abstract
this paper will concentrate on the long term perspectives on commercial spaceflight and private participation in outer space activities. from the perspective of commercial contract law an attempt is made to deal with future issues resulting from commercial spatial undertakings and the setting up of contracts between multiple spacefaring parties; in short, contracts between multiple nationalities from multiple nations in outer space. the current legal framework has not addressed the regulation of private actor conduct in this sense. therefore in this paper the feasibility of a set up of a (uniform) commercial contract law specifically designed for outer space will be discussed. the paper will focus on a contract law initiated and created not by sovereign states, but by private actors. a contract law in its core resembling the medieval lex mercatoria as set up in europe over five centuries ago. a contract law deriving from the expertise and experience of future space traders and space merchants. with a short sidestep analyzing current contract laws as implemented on a terrestrial level within the large space faring nations, as well as a sidestep to the theory of legal pluralism, a case is built supporting the applicability of a uniform commercial contract law for the drafting of contracts in outer space. a uniform commercial contract law set up and maintained by private actors; a lex mercatoria spatialis. first indications of an arising lex mercatoria in current space law will be taken into the discussion. next to this, an appeal is made for the set up of an international arbitration court for future legal conflicts between private actors in the commercial sphere. this arbitration court could contribute to the succes rate of an unifrom commercial contract law.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)