International Institute of Space Law: New Manfred Lachs Problem Is Out
The International Institute of Space Law (IISL) released the Problem for the 24nd Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition in 2015. The student competition is based on a hypothetical space law dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Preliminary competitions will be held between March and June 2015 in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The winning teams of the regional rounds will meet in the World Finals in Jerusalem, Israel in October 2015 during the annual IISL Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, in the framework of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC). The Final Round is traditionally judged by three judges of the International Court of Justice.
The name of the 2015 Moot Problem is “Case Concerning Planetary Defense (United Republic of Adventura (URA) v. the Sovereign Peoples Independent Democratic Republic (SPIDR)”, and is available at:
http://www.iislweb.org/lachsmoot/docs/2015_Problem.pdf
The Problem presents issues relating to the response to a threat to the Earth posed by the risk of collision with a Near Earth Object (NEO). The problem also addresses the utilization of natural resources of the celestial object, and liability for damages occasioned by the NEO.
The contact details for the Regional Rounds are:
Africa:Adv. (Ms.) Lulu Makapela – lachsmoot-africa@iislweb.org
Asia Pacific: lachsmoot-asiapacific@iislweb.org
Europe: ECSL – lachsmoot-europe@iislweb.org
North America: Dr. Milton (Skip) Smith – lachsmoot-northamerica@iislweb.org
Website: http://www.iislweb.org/lachsmoot
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpaceLawMoot
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/spacemoot
