Can You Commit A Crime In Space And Whats The Law?
Can You Commit A Crime In Space? And Whats The Law?
Space is considered res communis, meaning that it belongs to everyone and no one, and no country can claim ownership. However, this does not mean that national laws do not apply to space or the high seas. International law permits countries to assert jurisdiction outside their territory through the nationality principle and the universality principle. The former covers crimes committed by a country's citizens outside its borders, while the latter allows countries to prosecute anyone for serious crimes against international law, such as piracy. While there are no space pirates (yet), space is governed by five international treaties, including the Outer Space Treaty, the Rescue Agreement, the Liability Convention, the Registration
Convention, and the Moon Agreement. The Outer Space Treaty is particularly relevant for addressing alleged crimes in space. This treaty requires the exploration and use of outer space to be free for all countries, not subject to any claim of national sovereignty. The Moon and other celestial bodies are to be used only for peaceful purposes, and nations are responsible for national space activities and liable for damage caused by their space objects. In terms of prosecution for space crimes, a spacefaring criminal is generally subject to the law of their country of citizenship or the country aboard whose registered spacecraft the crime was committed. However, the term "personnel" is not defined in the treaty, leading to questions about the legal status of private citizens such as space tourists.
The laws on board the International Space Station.
The International Space Station (ISS) has a specific intergovernmental agreement signed by the project’s partner nations that allows for nationality-based jurisdiction over crime. The agreement states that the partner nations of Canada, the European Partner States, Japan, Russia, and the United States may exercise criminal jurisdiction over personnel who are their respective nationals and on any flight element of the ISS.
However, if the victim of a crime committed on the ISS was a citizen of a different partner nation and the US did not guarantee that they would prosecute the perpetrator, that other nation’s criminal law would apply. This is called “passive nationality” jurisdiction. Furthermore, if the crime took place in a partner nation’s section of the space station, its criminal law may apply.
For other space flights not on board the ISS, things become more complicated due to several reasons. The treaty framework for criminal law in space heavily relies on nationality, which poses issues if the alleged criminal is a dual citizen. Private citizens on future space flights are unlikely to be aboard the ISS, so the ISS agreement would not apply. It is likely that the criminal law of the country that the space plane is registered in would apply, but this could lead to problems if the countries whose citizens are on board also try to claim jurisdiction.
Another issue is determining where space begins since Earth’s atmosphere does not have a clear boundary. This makes it difficult to determine whether air law or space law should apply at a given altitude and whether space-bound flights can be deemed to have violated another country’s air space.
Lastly, for serious crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court may extend to outer space. Although some people already view space as a military arena, it is hoped that this theoretical jurisdiction will never be applied in practice.
The future of crime in space
Space law was written at a time when there were only a small number of nations embarking on missions. It does not include Space tourists and will no doubt have to be rewritten to clarify laws that remain a grey area.
