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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Who judges the law in outer space regarding satellite communication? Who enforces these judgements? Important questions given our increasing reliance on this technology for TV, internet and telephone services. “Not all existing dispute settlement mechanisms are equally capable of finding adequate answers,” said Mahulena Hofmann, SES Professor in Satellite Communications and Media Law at the University of Luxembourg.
The legal issues in question have been analysed in a recently-published book* edited by Prof Hofmann. Expert analysis is provided by eleven representatives of industry, regulatory bodies, administrations, and academia. They encapsulate the current state of the law and legal practice in this area. The University of Luxembourg is one of the few research institutes in the world to be studying these complex legal issues in-depth.
A patchwork of international, regional and national rules has created a multi-layered, often overlapping legal framework. To date, the rules governing satellite communication have only rarely been tested in court, but there is no guarantee that this will continue, particularly as our use of this technology continues to grow. “Until now, numerous disagreements have been resolved by arbitration measures, but this could change in the future,” added Prof Hofmann.
An example of a dispute was the reaction of the members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to a satellite which was operating without any proper national administration, causing harmful interference to the transmission by adjacent operators. The ITU procedures and structures can help to find the source of the interference and to convince the wrongdoer to comply with the rules.
The University of Luxembourg book has identified several factors which have encouraged industry players to take a consensual approach towards disputes: the cost of legal action; the need for the disputing parties to maintain good working relationships in this tight-knit industry; the highly technical nature of cases; and a lack of trust in court and enforcement procedures. “In the near future it can be expected that mediation, negotiation, and arbitration will remain the main mechanisms of dispute settlement, but as the number of disputes is increasing we might see new approaches,” said Prof Hofmann.
This research effort is, to a large extent, thanks to the support of the Luxembourg-based world-leading communications satellite operator SES. The company co-funds this professorial chair and makes a substantial practical contribution to the research. Prof Mahulena Hofmann is an international authority on this subject and is a board member of the International Institute of Space Law.
Notes to editor: *“Dispute Settlement in the Area of Space Communication”, edited by Mahulena Hofmann, published by Nomos. For more details see http://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/19787
Contact for journalists: Prof. Mahulena Hofmann, mahulena.hofmann@uni.lu, T: +352 46 66 44 – 6174
http://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/19787 - link to publication
http://www.uni.lu - homepage of the University of Luxembourg
http://wwwen.uni.lu/fdef/droit/equipe/mahulena_hofmann - personal page of Prof Hofmann
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