The extraterritoriality of American law
The extraterritoriality of American law is the capacity that the United States of America gives itself to enact standards applicable to persons, natural or legal, not American. It is illustrated in several fields, in particular that of international corruption where American standards are imposed thanks to a recurrent application of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act. →
Understanding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is an American law passed in 1977 aimed at combating the bribery of foreign public officials. This law follows an investigation in the 1970s by the American regulator (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the context of the Watergate scandal. →
Understanding jus soli and jus sanguinis
The jus sanguinis makes descent the criterion of automatic acquisition of nationality, conceived as a heritage which is transmitted to the descendants. The jus soli is based on the place of birth of the individual. →
What is UNIDROIT?
UNIDROIT is an intergovernmental organisation situated in Rome and whose objective is to harmonise international private law across countries through uniform rules, international conventions, and the production of model laws, sets of principles, guides and guidelines. Established in 1926 as part of the League of Nations, it was reestablished in 1940. →
What was the Constellation Program?
The Constellation Program was a NASA space exploration program, the main objective of which was to send astronauts to the Moon around 2020 for long-term missions. As soon as it was presented to the media, the Constellation Program received a mixed reception. While some were enthusiastic about the idea of a new era of exploration beyond the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), others found little interest in an Apollo-bis deemed to be little innovative. →
Understanding the Fisheries Case
In the Fisheries Case of 1951, the dispute is over a maritime area where fishing was an important resource: the point was to figure out how much of that maritime zone was Norwegian, and how much was considered as high seas, meaning that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland could freely fish in this zone. →
The female space quartet
The merging of two crews marked the first time four women were in outer space at the same time: Discovery’s three women astronauts, and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also marked the first time two of its astronauts were in outer space simultaneously. →
Towards an International Space Agency?
It is in the light of all this questioning, and of all this projects that we fully understand the need for an International Space Agency (ISA) which will establish a common program and course of action. It would define the objectives of humanity on a short, medium and long term. The first one could be the organisation of mission on Mars. →
The launch of the first Ethiopian satellite
The data from the Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite, the first Ethiopian satellite, will help the country to monitor its resources, such as forest and mining resources, improve weather forecast, as well as observe agricultural transformations which will therefore improve the quality of the country’s responses to various issues. →
Can astronauts vote in space?
Currently, only American astronauts can vote from outer space. Indeed, in 1997, the State of Texas passed a law which allows American astronauts to cast their ballots from outer space, from the International Space Station (ISS), and even if they were further out, like on Mars. →
Understanding the Asylum Case
Is Colombia competent, as the country that grants asylum, to unilaterally qualify the offence for the purpose of asylum under treaty law and international law? In this specific case, was Peru, as the territorial State, bound to give a guarantee of safe passage? →
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons
By a letter from December 19, 1994, the Secretary-General of the United Nations officially communicated to the Registry a decision taken by the General Assembly to submit to the Court, for advisory opinion, the following question: “Is the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstance permitted under international law?” →
The Order of the Dolphin and the birth of SETI
In 1961, when UFOs were all the rage, a group of top scientific minds met in secret at a rural observatory in West Virginia. These scientists wanted to find, and talk to, aliens. They didn’t know it, but they were about to launch the modern Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI. →
Advertising in outer space: the beginnings of commercial drifts?
Advertising is everywhere: on posters (paper or digital), in magazines, on TV, on the Internet, in our smartphones, and even soon in our connected and autonomous cars. Is the next step the sky? Will we one day see giant billboards floating in the clouds… even in outer space? →
The need to establish a communication network in deep space
Optical space telecommunications is a category of space telecommunications based on the use of lasers for data transmission. This technique makes it possible to considerably increase the speed compared to radio links while reducing the electrical power required. →
Marine pollution caused by space debris
Even the fauna is scarce. “There are few fishes in this area because ocean currents do not pass through and do not provide nutrients to this area, which makes marine life scarce” say some specialists. Space objects can therefore crash without risk in this area, before sinking four kilometers deep. →
In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and the future of commercial space
Today, many in the space community think that In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is not ready for use in actual missions, however it is a fact that space resources are already being used in outer space today. Solar energy provides substantial capability to satellites in Earth orbit and on inter-planetary journeys. →
The definition of actio popularis
In Roman law, actio popularis was defined as “A legal instrument allowing any citizen to denounce before a judge facts relating to public order or public property”. Actio popularis was characterised by the attribution to all Roman citizens of the right to defend collective or common interests in court. →
The history of space elevators
The promoters of space elevators generally do not fail to mention the first published concrete attempt, that of the Tower of Babel. Literally “The Gate of the Gods”, it was a ziggurat, a two-story temple-tower, supposed to allow the Babylonians to reach a sacred domain where they would find their supreme god, who lived in the highest heavens. →
What role for Europe in the return of Americans to the Moon?
Europe is the continent of inventors and explorers. Starting five hundred years ago, European scientists developed a large number of machines, processes and objects that we still use in our daily life. In the same period, the navigators, still European, furrowed the oceans of our planet and mapped it. Europe must therefore not forget its legacy of explorers. →