The Use of Airspace and Outer Space for all Mankind in the 21st Century

Book excerpt: The very nature of international air transportation and outer space activities means that they have an international perspective. This is more evident today than at any time in the past, due to the intensification of trans-boundary trade, the internationalization of the division of work and the acceleration of technological progress. The Asian Institute of Air and Space Law, the Graduate School of Law, Soochow University, Taipei, the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University, and the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, have instituted international conferences in order to provide a world platform for eminent specialists and scholars. The Tokyo Conference, upon which this excellent collection of papers is based, was concerned with a wide range of legal and practical questions arising from regulatory developments in international air transportation and in the exploration, exploitation and use of outer space and celestial bodies. The main topics of deliberation were: megacarriers in the 21st century, the need to revise the Bermuda Capacity Formula and the Chicago Convention, liability and responsibility in international aviation, safety, security and environment, airline industry competition, legal and political aspects of space transportation and manned space flights, the protection of the space environment and dispute settlement in air and space law. They are discussed in this volume with unparalleled authority.