Tauira Stephen Jannink wrote an essay advocating for celestial objects to be able to obtain a legal personality in a similar way to how New Zealand has applied legal personality to culturally significant landmarks such as the Whanganui River.
Otago tauira Stephen Jannink might have his feet on the ground, but his head is in the stars.
Stephen is one of three global winners of the 2024 Space4Youth Essay Competition, run by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Space Generation Advisory Council.
The essay titled ‘A Stellar Personality: Legal personality as a means for sustainable governance of outer space’, looks to the stars from a foundation on Aotearoa law.
In this work, Stephen advocates for applying New Zealand’s usage of legal personality for culturally significant natural landmarks, such as the Whanganui River, to celestial objects for the sustainable governance of space.
“I’ve always had an interest in space law and space in general. I think because it’s so unknown, there’s not a lot of regulation and we are talking about the entire universe. It opens the possibility to innovate and rethink how we approach law by learning from our experiences here on earth.
“Now we will be seeing more and more actors [organisations or people who have active roles] in space. How do you take them into account and ensure they are acting in the best interests of humanity?” says Stephen.
Stephen came across this global essay competition during a stint as a summer clerk with law firm Buddle Findlay in Wellington. Interns are asked to choose their own research topic. Stephen chose the space market in New Zealand and internationally, looking at its growth and how law will interact with it.
“It is also a matter of asking how we can make a system that on the one hand provides certainty for companies so they don’t feel overly regulated and give up on the industry, as their growth in the sector can provide huge cost reduction benefits for humanity. On the other hand, we need to balance this with the need to make sure they act responsibly and sustainably for the benefit of mankind.”
Stephen has always had an interest in space and space law.
An inspiration for including the New Zealand application of legal personality in his essay came through a paper in jurisprudence, taught by Metiria Turei, with a Māori focus including tikanga principles. This led him to think a lot more about Māori concepts and how they interrelate with Western concepts.
“History was made in 2014 when New Zealand granted Te Urewera rainforest legal person status. These landmarks can now contract, possess rights and owe duties. This application of legal personality is using Western models to uphold Māori values. I thought that’s a smart way to get a lot of different, historically conflicting actors to work together quite harmoniously. I thought this was a good lesson for trying to achieve sustainable governance in space.”
Stephen put a lot of effort into making the essay accessible, a reflection of his firm belief that law must be able to be understood.
“Law is supposed to regulate everyone, and it is so important that everyone can read it, if they have a legal background or not, because then they can actually give criticisms of it.
“You’re not going to get good law if people can’t understand it - especially with an industry as technologically intensive as space. I have no understanding of rocket science, so someone from that background who can read and understand the law could be so valuable in making the law more in line with industry realities.”
Stephen will complete his double degree in Law and Politics, with a minor in Mandarin, at the end of this year, and a whole universe of possibilities await him.
Read his award-winning essay on the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs website: A Stellar Personality: Legal personality as a means for sustainable governance of outer space