RIGHT OF NATURE AND APPLICABILITY BEYOND EARTH: OUTER SPACE AND ECOLOGICAL JURISPRUDENCE

As the celestial ambitions of humanity have expanded, legal and ethical questions surrounding environmental integrity in outer space remain a point of contention. A jurisprudential, doctrinal and legal philosophy-dependent discussion surrounding the applicability of the emerging ‘Right of Nature’ doctrine to tackle environmental issues in outer space is the objective of this specific article. In the vein of analysing the possible transposition of the earth-rooted legal personhood into extraterritorial jurisprudence, this article integrates the intellectual contributions of many contemporary philosophers like David Boyd and Comac Cullinan. It looks into the recognition of celestial ecosystems as judicial subjects while interrelating post-humanist and relational ontologies. The anthropocentric and instrumentalist structure that is prevalent in the extant of international space law is put under the analytical eye in this paper, which follows a tripartite thematic structure. The first part discusses the Right of Nature jurisprudence, outer space environmental issues and the existing legal framework; while the second part analyses the integration of this eco-centric jurisprudence in the field of international space law. It concludes through a de lege ferenda interpretation of applying Rights of Nature (RoN) jurisprudence and what it might entail in terms of environmental protection.