Whose Laws Apply On the ISS?

Hugh Pickens writes "Whose laws apply if astronauts from different countries get into a fight, make a patentable discovery, or damage equipment belonging to another country while on the International Space Station? According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, ratified by 98 nations, states have legal jurisdiction within spacecraft registered to them. When the space station was assembled from modules supplied by the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA), partners rejected an initial proposal that US law should prevail throughout the space station. "It was agreed that each state registers its own separate elements, which means that you now have a piece of the US annexed to a piece of Europe annexed to a piece of Japan in outer space, legally speaking," said Dr Frans von der Dunk of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at the University of Leiden. So what happens if a crime is committed in space? "If somebody performs an activity which may be considered criminal, it is in the first instance his own country which is able to exercise jurisdiction," Dr. von der Dunk added."

Dr. von der Dunk?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Didn't he invent the "Coffee and Donut" combination?

We clearly need

[dnormant (806535)]

a Federation.

Re:We clearly need

[dreamchaser (49529)]

Bah. Only a strong central government can calm the chaos. We need an Empire.

Re:We clearly need

[presarioD (771260)]

Nahhh, only benevolent and wise entities can lead the sheep. We need overlords...

Re:We clearly need

[by Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, will welcome them...

If astronauts fight..

[by Anonymous Coward]

..the winner makes the law. Duh.

Fingers crossed.

[Asm-Coder (929671)]

I had hoped that astronauts would be above this, but, nobody seems to be above anything nowadays.

Re:Fingers crossed.

[sconeu (64226)]

They are.... by about 150 miles.

Crimes in space

[Sarten-X (1102295)]

If a crime is committed in space, we need to execute a nice antique trial-by-fire... if they survive decompression, they must be innocent. If not, they're guilty. It's foolproof!

Re:

[adz (630844)]

Wrong way round. You don't want innocent people getting upset because you decompressed them. So the innocent ones are the ones who die (besides, you're a bit of a freak if you survive decompression).

Re:Crimes in space

[Cedric Tsui (890887)]

No No. It is clearly the other way around.
The witch trials for instance. Witches float, so you tie the accused witch up to ensure she can't swim (because that would add a a second variable of uncertainty) and toss her into the nearest creek. If she floats, and is a which, you then haul her over to the town square to be burned. If she sinks and drowns... An unfortunate casualty of the justice system.

Re:Crimes in space

[Ihlosi (895663)]

i think its the acute hypothermia issues that will kill you, not the decompression in itself...

Um, no. It's lack of oxygen that you'll die from. You'll lose consciousness after about 15 to 20 seconds (due to deoxygenation of your blood on your lungs) and probably don't want to be resuscitated after more than 2 minutes unless you enjoy an existence at the mental level of a daisy.

Re:Crimes in space

[idontgno (624372)]

What else floats in microgravity?

Apples!
Churches!
Lead! Lead!
Mud!
Small rocks!

A duck...

Correct!

Re:Crimes in space

[Roger W Moore (538166)]

You know, an astronaut weighs the same as a duck in space.

Actually this is a popular misconception. A few hundred kilometres up the acceleration due to gravity is not much different than here on the Earth's surface. The difference is that the ISS is in freefall you you get apparent weightlessness - effectively all the objects are in the same orbit around the Earth and since orbital velocity is independent of mass it gives an impression of weightlessness. So actually an astronaut still weighs more than a duck in space but is unaware of this because they are in the same orbit. For true weightlessness you have to go a long, long way away.

Sorry that was probably more physics than you wanted to know but this is Slashdot!

War of the Roses in space?

[burtosis (1124179)]

Whoever owns the rights to the module you have to enter/leave by is going to win this one.

What do you mean I can't have more air?

Fights on the ISS

[Nick Driver (238034)]

Are the fights that serious on the ISS?

With the possible exception of the temporary visitors, all the crews onboard the ISS, the Shuttles and Soyuz ships that service the ISS are all extremely disciplined professionals and have to behave as such at all times, especially since they are kept busy so much of the time, and their safety depends on their professionalism. These folks have been trained their whole careers to exercise great patience that it is second nature to them. I seriously doubt there are any "

I know ...

[ubrgeek (679399)]

Let Sealand [wikipedia.org] claim it :)

crime? what about birth?

[rucs_hack (784150)]

Wait till the first child gets born. They might be the first people able to claim multinationality, or perhaps to be able to drop the concept of nationality altogether.

Ok, unlikely, but would it not rock?

Re:crime? what about birth?

[DragonWriter (970822)]

They might be the first people able to claim multinationality

Actually, lots of people are able to claim more than one nationality as a result of birth; for instance, anyone born of a parent from one country that makes children of its citizens citizens by birth, that also:
1) has their other parent a citizen of another country that does that, or
2) is born in a country different than their parents country of citizenship, that makes people born in the country citizens by birth,
Can claim birthright citizenship in more than one country. IIRC, some countries force such a person to make a choice of one or the other at adulthood or give up the claim. I don't really think the ISS, despite having bits of many countries in close proximity, really adds anything new in this regard.

four places at once

[brunes69 (86786)]

There are documented cases of people born on airplanes who were able to claim citizenship in four countries at once - their home country, the country where the plane took off from, the country where the plane landed, and the country whose airspace the person was in when they were born.

Re:four places at once

[Richard_at_work (517087)]

It happens at least once a year on scheduled flights, and no, all those nationalities do not count - the baby gets to claim the parents nationality and the destinations nationality.

Re:four places at once

[gEvil (beta) (945888)]

...and no, all those nationalities do not count - the baby gets to claim the parents nationality and the destinations nationality.

Not entirely true. It depends on the citizenship laws of each country involved. For instance, simply being born in a country doesn't automatically give you rights to citizenship (I was born in Germany, but neither of my parents are German citizens, so it's not even an option for me). I'm sure there are a few combinations of the above example where someone would have legal rights to citizenship in all four countries.

Re:four places at once

[metlin (258108)]

There are two types - Jus Soli [wikipedia.org] and Jus sanguinis [wikipedia.org].

Former grants citizenship as a function of soil/territory and the latter through blood lineage. So, the method of deeming a person's citizenship would be heavily contingent upon the method used for determining the same.

Re:

[nebaz (453974)]

What citizenship can be claimed by people born on the high seas?

Re:

[mortonda (5175)]

Probably the flag the are legally sailing under.

Re:

[khellendros1984 (792761)]

I'm reasonably certain that both Germany's and Switzerland's citizenship laws work this way. In fact, there's a sizable Turkish population in Germany, many of whom have lived there for generations, but who don't have citizenship because Germany doesn't automatically grant it at birth. At least, that's the situation as I remember it. It's been a while since I lived there, and I was just a kid.

Earth to Cosmonaut Dmitry Sklyarov

[Weaselmancer (533834)]

Urgent! Do NOT GO into the module made by the United States.

Extremes

[orzetto (545509)]

What happens if you have a joint in the Dutch module and some jolly fellow pushes you over in the Singapore module? Do you get spaced?

Directive B10.81

[skydude_20 (307538)]

Brannigans Law

How about

[Chabil Ha' (875116)]

the law of common decency?

right....

[superwiz (655733)]

Law? As in rules of civil society? How bout acknowledging the fact that there is no society on a space station and not giving in to lawyers who are trying to con people into thinking that their contribution is necessary in a situation where "law" is, in fact, the least efficient way to solve problems?

International waters

[P3NIS_CLEAVER (860022)]

Why wouldn't they just follow protocols used by ships in international waters?

Re:International waters

[Buran (150348)]

'Cause that's not what the treaty says must be done.

Re:International waters

[Andy Dodd (701)]

I think part of the problem (as listed in the summary) is that while a ship in international waters usually has a clearly defined nationality, the ISS has a bunch of parts originating from different countries, so the question is what is the nationality of the "ship". It sounds like the issue is not difficult when dealing with spacecraft of a single nationality (for example, the Space Shuttle.)

heh

[B3ryllium (571199)]

In Space, no one can hear you scream Habeus Corpus. :)

Interesting Questions

[Thyamine (531612)]

Definitely opens the door for some interesting questions:

• If an astronaut from Nation X makes a discovery in Nation Y's module/ISS component/lab, can Nation Y make a claim on the discovery?
• Who's patent/legal laws apply to the discover made by the same astronaut? Does the astronaut get to choose? Do both have to apply?
• Can a country ban an astronaut from it's soil, and thereby ban that astronaut from using it's module/equipment?
• If two astronauts from two different countries have an altercation in a completely different nations module, who's legal authority is applicable?

Aliens from outer space

[ishmalius (153450)]

We used to joke that, technically, cosmonauts who launched from Baikonur and landed at Canaveral were exactly that.

well its *called*

[myowntrueself (607117)]

You will often see it called 'The NASA Space Station Project' in a great many news sources and thats how NASA refer to it...

So I guess U.S. laws would apply since its obviously a NASA project...

Oh wait, that would be in U.S. news sources... and in press releases from a U.S. space agency...

One solution...

[lpangelrob (714473)]

1.) Provide each astronaut a handgun of personal choice
2.) Place astronauts back-to-back in the center of the longest capsule on board
3.) If velcro boots are provided, order each astronaut to take ten steps toward the edge of the capsule. If not, approximate 10 seconds of floating in opposite directions before turning and firing.
4.) In the event the space station is still intact and both parties are still alive, review tape footage and declare the astronaut with the most matrix-like moves the winner.

Obligatory

[PPH (736903)]

In Soviet Russian module, the Party determines the laws.

Why the Law of Space of course...

[Shadow Wrought (586631)]

So far its only tenent is that "No one can hear you scream," but they're working on it.

Illegal region-free DVD player aboard the ISS

[Animats (122034)]

The ISS has an illegal modded "region-free" DVD player, purchased by NASA and shipped up in 2001.

Properly, the ISS should have a Region 8 player. Those are for aircraft, cruise ships, and "international venues". Airlines have to buy Region 8 players and discs for in-flight entertainment. Why isn't the MPAA pursuing this? It sets a bad example.

Re:Illegal region-free DVD player aboard the ISS

[tgd (2822)]

The MPAA can pursue it, but they need to show up in person.

European law

[Bromskloss (750445)]

a piece of Europe

As if Europe even was a single country with a common law. (Err, a law in common, that is.)

Things seem to be going that way, unfortunately (EU, get out of Sweden now, please!), but we're not there yet.

more interesting, who's ethics committee?

[petes_PoV (912422)]

For example, should stem cell research (legal in some countries, illegal in others) be permitted. Could it be done in, say, a european module, but not an american one. How about growing GM crops

Re:

[Detritus (11846)]

Why not? They already have a firearm on the Soyuz. It's part of their survival kit in case they land off-course and have to deal with unfriendly and hungry wildlife.

Re:Probably a lawyer

[hedwards (940851)]

And exactly what is wrong with NASA? A lot of good science comes out of it. Sure a lot of it isn't immediately obvious as to the benefit, but the country and the world as a whole is better off for having the agency around doing research.

Climate research for example has greatly benefited from the actions of the agency.

Re:

[Applekid (993327)]

Space truly is the final frontier [of litigation].

Re:

[peragrin (659227)]

because when the borg attack I shall use lawyers as my shield.

Let the borg assimilate that.

Re:We clearly also need...

[geekoid (135745)]

It is a fallacy to think you need faith in God to have morals and restraint. A dangerous fallacy.