LAW 7172 - Strategic Space Law

North Terrace Campus - Trimester 2 - 2023

This course will examine the legal aspects of space security, globally and domestically. The content of the course will range across the spectrum from peace to conflict and will cover international law and some domestic law applicable to space situational awareness, sharing of technology, expertise and data, space launch, the space component of ballistic missile defence, space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and means to counter these systems, space-based Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT), satellite communications, use of the radio-frequency spectrum and electronic warfare, counter-space operations and force application from space. On successful completion of this course students should be able to demonstrate advanced knowledge of the intersection of law, strategy and outer space; critically analyse complex problems arising from the application of law to space security; and broadly understand the interests and stakeholders in a variety of contexts associated with strategic space law.

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Course Details

Course Code	LAW 7172
Course	Strategic Space Law
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Law School
Term	Trimester 2
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Intensive
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Assessment	Assessment in this course will include a combination of two or more of the following: interim written assessment; in-class presentation; assessment of contribution to class discussion; examination (invigilated or take-home); and/or research essay.

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Professor Dale Stephens

For enrolment enquiries please email Dale.stephens@adelaide.edu.au

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Undertake legal research at a high level of complexity.
2. Effectively structure and articulate written legal arguments.
3. Deploy advanced skills in statutory and treaty interpretation to resolve complex legal problems.
4. Analyse a complex factual scenario and identify the relevant legal issues.
5. Articulate complex legal arguments orally.
6. Identify and evaluate relevant ethical and moral issues in legal situations.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	3,4
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	2,5
Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.	6
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	6
Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.	6
Attribute 7: Digital capabilities Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.	2,4
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	6

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Materials and resources will be made available on MyUni

Online Learning

MyUni will be used to post announvements, additional lecture material (including slides, and where available, recordings of lectures) and announce assignment tasks. It will also contain electronic copies of the Course Profile and Course materials. Students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with these materials and additional learning resources throughout the course.

Learning & Teaching Modes

The course will consist of lectures presented in a seminar format over the intensive teaching period. There will be problem solving tasks introduced through the week as well as more general group discussion on emerging areas of legal and policy interest in this field.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

For a 3 unit course the expected workload is 156 hours. This will be structured as 24 hours of face to face teaching over five intensive days and 132 hours of personal study.

Learning Activities Summary

Schedule
Day	Topic
1	Will include instruction on basic Principles of Space Law and an assessment of key terms included in applicable treaties that relate to military space use.
2	Will include topics relating to military space applications and the applicable law governing such applications, it will also include consideration of the growing commercial use of space and the legal regime applicable to such use.
3	Will focus on Military Space Policy of the US, Russia, China and Europe and also explore thiunking in the Australian Strategic Space context. It will also cover issues relating to the jus ad bellum and jus in bello regarding military space activities.
4	Will deal with developing space technologies and the applicable law, and will have a number of problem exercises that enables practical application of the concepts developed so far in the week.
5	Will deal with future developments of space activity including resource extraction activities and the colonization of celestial bodies along with the military legal implications of such activities, it will also cover normative developments in the goverance architecture concerning military activities and efforts to articulate the applicable law in this uncertain future.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment item	% of final mark	Dates	Length	Individual or Group Activity?	Redeemable	Learning Outcomes
Class participation	10%	End of the teaching week	N/A	Individual	No	2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Short issues Paper	30%	The Friday in the week following the end of the course.	2000 words	Individual	No	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Long Research Essay	60%	The Friday occuring three weeks following the end of the course.	4000 words	Individual	No	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Assessment Detail

Class participation counts for 10% of the overall grade. The course will spend considerable time discussing legal and political issues associated with civilian and military uses of space and the overarching legal framework. There will be ample opportunity for students to engage both individually and within groups on the issues covered.

Issues paper. The scope of this topic is large and there will be numerous legal and policy issues encountered through the week. Students will be required to identify a particular issue that has resonance with them and write a 2000 word paper examining that particular issue and its policy context. Students may use this short paper to hone arguments that will be used in their long assessment paper or use the opportunity to address a discrete area of interest that may not ultimately feature in their long paper.

The majority of the course grade will come from a 4000 word Research Essay (long paper). While students will be free to design any relevant (and approved) topic they would like, selected possible topics will be presented progressively through the course for consideration. All topics must be approved by Prof Dale Stephens preferably by the last day of the course.

Submission of all assignments MUST BE through the Turnitin submission page on the course MyUni page.

Submission

Late Submission: 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day of the weekend. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc. Hard copy submissions made after 5.00pm on a Friday will be assumed to have been submitted on the next business day and will be penalised accordingly.

Word Length: Assignments which exceed the allocated length (word length or page limit) will be subject to a penalty of 5% of total marks possible per 100 words or part thereof (i.e. with a word limit of 3000, an essay graded 63% will have 5% deducted if it is 3001 words long, for a final grade of 58%, 10% if it is 3101 words long, etc). Words are calculated including all footnotes and headings within the text but excluding cover page information. Quotations and all referencing information are included in the word count.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Course Grades:

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

Student feedback
The course is constantly being updated and revised to reflect the evolution of the law, to respond to student feedback, and to engage with the latest teaching practices. Student feedback is collected each time the course is run, including through SELT reports. Previous SELT reports, and staff feedback on them, are posted on the course MyUni site for students to view and consider.
Student Support
The provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the 成人大片.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program
Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our , and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support
The University’s service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Academic Integrity
All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Academic Misconduct is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic Misconduct (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia. Academic Integrity is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.

The 成人大片 is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The 成人大片 therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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