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JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW VOLUME 27, NUMBER 2 1999 JOURNAL OF SPACE LA W A journal devoted to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space VOLUME 27 1999 NUMBER 2 EDITORIAL BOARD AND ADVISORS BERGER, HAROLD FINCH, EDWARD R., JR. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania New York, N.Y. BOCKSTIEGEL, KARL-HEINZ GALLOWAY, ElLENE M. Cologne, Germany Washington, D.C. BOUREL Y, MICHEL G. HE, QIZHI Paris, France Beijing, China COCCA, ALDO ARMANDO JASENTULIYANA, NANDASIRI Buenes Aires, Argentina Vienna, Austria DEMBLING, PAUL G. KOPAL, VLADIMIR Washington, D. C. Prague, Czech Republic DIEDERIKS-VERSCHOOR, I.H. PH VERESHCHETIN, V.S. Baam, Holland Moscow, Russian Federation FASAN, ERNST ZANOTTI, ISIDORO Neunkirchen, Austria Washington, D.C. STEPHEN GOROVE, Chairman Oxford, Mississippi All correspondance should be directed to the JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW, P.O. Box 308, University, MS 38677, USA. Tel.lFax: 662-234-2391. Vol. 28 (year 2000) subscription rates for individuals are: $94.80 (domestic) and $99.80 (foreign) for two issues, including postage and handling. The rates for organizations are: $112.80 (domestic) and $117.80 (foreign) for two issues. Single issues may be ordered for $65 per issue. Please add $18 for airmail. Copyright © JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW 1999. Suggested abbreviation: J. SPACE L. JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW A journal devoted to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space VOLUME 27 1999 NUMBER 2 CONTENTS Article Provisional Application in an International Organization ......................... 99 David Sagar Events of Interest A. PAST EVENTS........................................................................... 117 U.N Reports Review of the Work of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Subcommittees, 1999 .............................. 117 Natercia F. Rodrigues and Charles W. N. Davies Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), Vienna, Austria, 19-30 July 1999 .... 134 Charles W. N. Davies Other Report IISL Colloquium, 4-8 October 1999, Amsterdam ....................................... 141 Tanja Masson Zwaan Comments Commercial Space Development in Millennium 2000 ................................ 161 Amb. (Dr.) Edward R. Finch, Esq. Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), Vienna 30 July 1999 Closing Statement... ... 170 N. Jasentuliyana Case Developments .................................................................................... 173 Short Accounts International Colloquium on Air Navigation Security and Space Contamination, April 26-28,2000, Cordoba, Agentina .............. 174 Ambassador Aldo Armando Cocca The Eighth ECSL Practitioners Forum, Nov. 26, 1999, Paris, France ........ 174 Executive and Legislative Notes ................................................................ 175 International Developments ...................................................................... 176 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition .................................... I78 Other Events ............................................................................................ 178 Brief News in Retrospect .......................................................................... 178 B. FORTHCOMING EVENTS............................................................. 180 Book Reviews/Notices INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROBLEMS IN THE PEACEFUL EXPLORATION AND USE OF OUTER SPACE by Maurice N. Andem (University of Lapland 1992) .................. 181 (Carl. Q. Christol) PROCEEDINGS OF THE FOUNDING CONVENTION OF THE MARS SOCIETY - AUGUST 13-16, 1998, edited by Robert M. Zubrin & Maggie Zubrin (Univelt 1999) .... 181 TRENDS IN TELECOMMUNICATION REFORM, by ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau (Geneva, 1999) ................................................... 182 Recent Publications Books ............................................................................................. 183 Contributions to Books .................................................................. 183 Articles ........................................................................................ 183 Reports .......................................................................................... 185 Comments ...................................................................................... 185 CaseN otes/Developments ............................................................... 186 Executive and Legislative Notes .................................................... 186 Book Reviews/Notices .................................................................... 186 Official Publications .................................................................... 186 Current Documents U.N.General Assembly Resolution 53/45. International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space .............................................................. 191 UNISPACE III, Vienna 19-30 July 1999. The Space Millennium: Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development.. ........................................ 199 Index ....................................................................................................... 207 ii PROVISIONAL APPLICATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION David Sagar' I. Introduction I. On 15 April 1999. amendments to the lnmarsat Convention and Operating Agreement for the restructuring and substantial privatization of the lnmarsat Organization were applied provisionally. by decision of the lnmarsat Assembly of Parties.! lnmarsat was the first of the international satellite organizations (IS Os) to take this step. 2. lnmarsat was an intergovernmental organization (lOO). operating on a commercial basis. The Assembly decision enabled the assets and business of lnmarsat to be transferred to private law Companies incorporated under English law. while retaining the lOO to oversee certain public service obligations of the Company. 3. The use of the doctrine of provisional application to achieve this objective was indispensable to lnmarsafs commercial future. This article outlines the reasons for this. and the search to substantiate legally the use of the doctrine. The results represent a significant evolution of public international law on the subject. II. The Reasons for Inmarsat's Restructuring 4. lnmarsafs restructuring has been described elsewhere. but a brief outline is given here to show the full implications of the lnmarsat Assembly's decision.2 Former Senior Attorney. Inmarsat. The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Inmarsat. The lnmarsat documents cited in this article may be obtained on request. subject to any confidentiality restnctlOns. from the lnmarsat Legal Office. 99 City Road. London. England. ECI Y lAX. Fax: + 44 (0) 171 728 1602. Assemblyl12120, Report of the 12111 Assembly Sess., sec. 8 and relevant Annexes. Assemblyll3/Report of the 13 111 (Extraordinary) Sess., sec. 4.2 and relevant Annexes. A. Auckenthaler, Recent Developments at lnmarsat, 38 Proc. COLLOQ. L. OUTER SPACE 149 (1995) (an IISL Colloquium) and 20 ANNALS AIR & SPACE L. 53 (\ 995). D. Sagar, The Privatization of Inmarsat", 41 Proe. COLLOQ. L. OUTER SPACE 205 (1999), D. Sagar, The Privatization of Inmarsat~Special Problems, Paper presented to the 99 100 JOURNAL OF SPACE LAW Vol. 27, No.2 5. Inmarsat was established in 1979 under the Inmarsat Convention and Operating Agreement'. The Member States were Parties to the Convention, and their designated telecommunications entities (some public, some private) were Signatories to the Operating Agreement. The purpose of the Organization was to provide a global mobile satellite system, initially for maritime commercial and safety communications (later extended to aeronautical and land mobile communications).' 6. Although operating on a commercial basis, the Organization functioned more like a cooperative. Governance and financing of capital requirements were the responsibility of the Signatories, who were also the main distributors of satellite services to the mobile end-users. The changing telecommunication environment in the 1990's, primarily the rise of competing systems, made radical institutional change necessary to enable Inmarsat to remain economically viable and competitive. The restnctlve governance and financing methods of the Organization had to give way to a normal multinational corporate structure with a fiduciary board of directors, access to external finance and public markets, and limited liability for investors. 7. The amendments to the Convention to implement this restructuring were radical. Ownership of the satellite system and management of its future operation were transferred to nationally incorporated private Companies. The Operating Agreement was terminated, the rights of Signatories extinguished, and their investment shares exchanged for ordinary shares in the company structure. The !GO continues in existence under the amended Convention, but its functions are limited to overseeing the performance by the Companies of certain international public service obligations, primarily the provision of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services. III. The need for Provisional Application of the Restructuring Amendments 8. Article 34 of the Inmarsat Convention established a two-step procedure for amending the Convention,firstly, adoption of amendments by the Assembly and, secCfldly, acceptance by two-thirds of the Parties representing at least two-thirds of the total