A Common Law Perspective on Space Law Methodology

Common law is more than just the legal system that pervades much of the English-speaking world. It is a unique method of forming and applying law. Increasingly, the development of space law is shifting towards a civil law approach. Such a tendency has the dangerous potential to stifle the development of high-quality space law. This paper presents a common law perspective on the development of space law. In the first part, it demonstrates the civil law orthodoxy that exists in space law. In the second part, it sets out the distinctive structural features of the common law and demonstrates how they may be of use to space lawyers. Specifically, a common law approach can improve the fairness of decision-making, improve the law-making process, and enable more countries to contribute to space law. In the third part, it examines potential drawbacks of a common law approach and addresses those concerns.