ADVANTAGES OF NON-LEGAL METHODS OF DISPUTE SETTLEMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL SPACE LAW

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:The law provides the rules and justification for dispute settlement. The evolution of international dispute settlement has following five phases:a)There was the concept of just war which allowed the enforcement of rights and obligations between states through a legally accepted use of armed force; b) Realization of the importance of peaceful settlement of dispute between states and before adhoc bodies; c) The establishment of Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) by 1899 treaty, with the awareness of the urgency to establish a standing body; d) The establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), International Court of Justice (ICJ), regional bodies such as European Court of Justice (ECJ), The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) after World War II and in early 1980s; e) The established of various human rights commissions and tribunals (Rosanne, 1991: 4).These evolutions show clear inclinations away from the use of force and dispute settlement towards recourse to third party compulsory mandatory jurisdiction and binding decision making powers. Generally speaking, a dispute occurs when a party perceives itself to be injured; decide some other party is responsible; from a sense of entitlement to some kind of redress, and formulate a specific claim which is rejected by the other party. The method of dispute settlement to be chosen by parties depends upon following factors:a)The extent of the interaction and interdependence of the actors involved; b) Whether the parties are in a continuing relationship with each other, their relative bargaining power and ability to exert influence on each other; c) Their geographical and political relationship with each other and third party; d) The similarities or differences in their political, cultural or economic ideology; e) The history of their relationships and the methods of dispute settlement used in the past between them; and, f) Their respective commitments to international law and principle of peaceful settlement of dispute (Surds & Shany, 1999:28).The Charter of United Nations (UN) provides, in Art. 2(3) and (4), two parallel obligations, requiring all members to settle their international disputes by peaceful means in a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered; and to refrain from any treat or use of force in their international relations against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose(s) of the UN (Watts, 2001:21). Article 33 of the charter of UN requires that parties of any disputes which the continuance of it is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security shall first of all seek a solution by negotiation, equity, mediation, conclusion, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangement (Watts, 2001:21).In this paper we are about to analyze advantages and disadvantages of non-legal methods of peaceful settlement of conflicts arises in space activities, which are consultations, negotiations, inquiry and fact finding, mediation and good offices, conciliation and the claims commission (CC).NON-LEGAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT METHODS RECOMMENDED BY SPACE TREATIES: CONSULTATIONS:Consultations and prior notification is one of the most useful methods of dispute settlement and conflict avoidance techniques. This method requires a party that might adversely affect another party, to inform the other party of its intentions and to discuss the matter and avoid any disputes. Some advantages of this method are as follows:a) Advocating a Pre-emptive and early resolution of a dispute by permitting parties to identify and attempt the settlement of potential problems at an early stage through taking action before parties' positions become rigid and polarized and their difference become more critical and intractable. …