Space Law has No Future in Today’s International System

The Second Annual USSPACECOM Legal Conference on Responsible Behavior in Outer Space finally addressed the elephant in the room — international humanitarian law is moot, ineffective, and thus has no clear direction for space law and policy.

At the final panel for the non-classified sessions, Senior Legal Counsel Perspectives on Space Law and Responsible Behavior, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Rockwell, The Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Air Force and Space Force highlighted the fact that “law is a framework to regulate human behavior… What behavior are we trying to regulate?”

On the effectiveness of international law without an enforcement mechanism, he expressed that as a “realist” it isn’t. So, it doesn’t matter.

Air Vice-Marshal Tamara Jennings, Director of Legal Services for the Royal Air Force (UK) shared her concern with international humanitarian law lamenting, “What are we doing this for?”

Both perspectives led me to breathe deep sighs of relief. For a moment I thought I was losing my mind! My social feeds have been flooded with commentaries that call for the international justice system to become involved with the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The tone implies definitive justice will be served if Russian President Vladimir Putin is convicted of war crimes. If the…