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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Precautionary Principle As The Law Of Planetary Defense: Achieving The Mandate To Defend The Earth Against Asteroid And Comet Impacts While There Is Still Time, Evan R. Seamone
Journal Articles
Current legal and policy efforts to enable adequate defense against potential asteroid or comet collisions with the earth are insufficient because they are indirectly premised upon theories that require verification of a clear and imminent threat before governmental agencies can act. This Article identifies the "precautionary principle" as the preeminent law of planetary defense against asteroid and comet impacts. The precautionary principle requires governments to take action to prevent harm even when it is uncertain if, when, or where the harm will occur. It requires governments to implement specific frameworks for making prompt decisions, directs intergovernmental bodies to plan for …
The Duty To “Expect The Unexpected”: Mitigating Extreme Natural Threats To The Global Commons Such As Asteroid Impacts With The Earth, Evan R. Seamone
The Duty To “Expect The Unexpected”: Mitigating Extreme Natural Threats To The Global Commons Such As Asteroid Impacts With The Earth, Evan R. Seamone
Journal Articles
This Article develops a framework to govern the interactions of nations cooperating to mitigate the threat of unexpected natural disasters that potentially could affect them all. It uses asteroid impact with the Earth as the representative example because this is an "unusual and extreme" disaster that has created difficulty for lawmakers due to its many unanswerable questions. By explaining a number of the legal requirements necessary to mitigate such threats, this Article identifies legal principles that apply equally to natural threats throughout the global commons. The law involved in this analysis arises, in great part, from the judicial recognition of …
Note, When Wishing On A Star Just Won’T Do: The Legal Basis For International Cooperation In The Mitigation Of Asteroid Impacts And Similar Transboundary Disasters, Evan R. Seamone
Journal Articles
This Note uses the threat of collisions of large space bodies with the Earth as a vehicle to investigate the legal duties of nations to participate in collective efforts at megadisaster mitigation. Asteroids and comets are space bodies while meteors occupy a less-threatening category. Although they differ in chemical composition and in visibility to the naked eye, large space bodies can endanger multiple nations simultaneously. Space bodies are ideal topics of investigation because the magnitude of the threats they pose is inestimable. Legal obligations to mitigate Earth impacts apply equally well to other infrequent threats that are currently of the …