A draft treaty on the moon and legal status of its natural resources
- Paper ID
1977-IAF-SL-049
- author
- company
- country
U.S.S.R.
- year
1977
- abstract
The que»tio» of the legal statua of the natural resources of the Moon ha ft been the main stumbling block on the way to a final elaboration of a Draft Treaty relating to the Moon for a rather long time now. It ia a question that first and foremost hampers the adoption of a new Treaty on outer ©pace that would be an important stage in the development of ypace law. This delay is all the more unjustified as in contrast* say, to the legal status of the natural resources of the seabed, the problems related to the status of the natural resources of the Moon are not urgent at present. They evidently will not be urgent for the next few decades to come* The matter was complicated by the fact that provisions of the status of the I lunar resources were grouped in one and the same article X with the provisions of the territorial (spatial) status of the Moon and areas of its surface and subsurface. The grouping in one article of different categories was untenable both from the methodological and the legal points of view. It moreover provided a certain basis for the viewpoint which holds that the principle of non-appropriation—a fundamental principle of apace law oealea dow& la Article II of the Space Treaty of 1967—-ia valla aot only for the lunar area but also for the lunar natural resources. But the principle of non*» appropriation has only territorial application, i.e*» it establishes only the territorial status of the Moon (as, incidentally, of the other celestial bodies and outer space in general). It may be noted that the advocates of the application of the principle of non-appro pria tion not only to spaoe area but alec? to its resources are aot consistent In their views* f;iey reach conclusions which actually mean nothing else but the acquisition of resources under certain conditions • But if wo proceed from the prerais© that the principle of non-approp« via t ion ref erg? not only to the tei^-torisl ststus but alsp to - • that of the resourcesthen we mnvt logically con® to the «oiic3iu«ion that tmdar certs la conditions it is possible to appropriâte the separate pa:sts c* outer spaoe, including the and other celestial bodies. The groundlessaess of this attitude .is self-evident.