The Centre for Research in Air and Space Law at McGill University has published what they describe as the “world’s first” manual on the International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space.
The manual is a six year effort of the MILAMOS (Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space) Project spearheaded by the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law. Its free available for download as a PDF. An e-book version is also available.
The project aimed “to develop a widely-accepted manual clarifying the fundamental rules applicable to the military use of outer space in time of peace, including challenges to peace.”
The project “involved over 80 participants from various countries, and was made possible with funding from, among other sources, Government of Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Erin J. C. Arsenault Fund at McGill University, as well as support from various stakeholder and academic institutions worldwide.”
According to its editors, Ram S. Jakhu and Steven Freeland, “the fifty-two Rules of the McGill Manual cover a variety of international law topics that are of critical importance to all space activities conducted during peacetime and in time of tension that pose challenges to peace.”
The project has also created a website to allow stakeholders and the public to provide feedback “and to share their relevant comments, perspectives and views, particularly on the practice of States, relating to the 52 Rules of the McGill Manual.” The website is live now until August 31, 2022. The feedback generated on the first volume will be added to Volume II – Rules with Commentaries. The second volume will contain the Commentaries “is being published separately by Springer.”
The Centre for Research in Air and Space Law is also well known for publishing the first two independent reviews of the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act.