First meeting of MILAMOS project on international law and military uses of outer space held in Adelaide

The group of over 30 international experts in international law and space security included Exeter Law School academics Prof. Michael N Schmitt and Dr. Kubo Mačák. The aim of the MILAMOS project is to develop a widely-accepted manual clarifying the rules applicable to the military use of outer space by both States and non-State actors.

The project joins a long line of non-governmental efforts to clarify the application of the law of armed conflict to contemporary reality, going back all the way to the 1880 Oxford Manual on The Laws of War on Land. More recently, the process and success of the 1995 San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflict at Sea, the 2009 Harvard Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare, and the 2017 Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operations demonstrate how international experts and engagement with governments have managed to produce quasi-legal documents that enjoy widespread recognition and authoritativeness.

Dr Mačák said: “We have had a very productive week in Adelaide and it was fantastic to see the project take off. Space is the ultimate high ground and there is a great need to enunciate the rules that apply to military activities in this domain. If the manual is successful, and I am confident that it will be, it may have a lasting impact on States‘ conduct in this area. It is a true privilege to be involved in such an important undertaking.”

The project is led by founding partners the McGill Centre for Research in Air and Space Law (CRASL) and the University of Adelaide's Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics (RUMLAE). Prof Schmitt acts as co-editor of the International Humanitarian Law group; Dr Mačák is one of the core experts in the same group. The next meeting of the project has been planned for June 2017 in India.