Civil Liability for Damage Caused by Global Navigation Satellite System

It has come to pass that national security, economic growth, and transportation safety – not to mention such infrastructure as banking and electricity – are severely dependent on the positioning information, navigation capabilities, and time dissemination provided by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). However, GNSS is not risk-free. The more humanity depends on GNSS, the more risks it has to face. It is irresponsible to wait for an accident to happen merely to justify the need for an appropriate GNSS civil liability regime. This hugely important book examines the structure of such a regime in unprecedented depth and proposes a uniform governance structure composed of an institutional framework and a legal system for GNSS, with safety-of-life signals at its core.

Exploring whether the current international law (including air law and space law conventions) is adequate to deal with the issue of civil liability in the context of GNSS, the author confronts and responds to such crucial issues as the following:

• ensuring that parties suffering damage caused by GNSS get fair, prompt, and adequate compensation;
• balancing the interests of the GNSS industry in order for it to maintain its sustainable development;
• identifying legal gaps arising in the GNSS context and how we should move forward;
• determining which parts of the value chain of GNSS may qualify as origins of damage; and
• construing GNSS civil liability mainly from contractual, product, and general tort liability perspectives.

The author assesses various solutions for GNSS civil liability based on their feasibility, including an institutional defence against the doctrine of sovereign immunity and recommendations on how several international organisations can work together in this endeavour. He examines scholarships, travaux préparatoires, conference documents, and treaties, as well as national legislation. A hypothetical case where damage is caused by GNSS is elaborated, illustrating each legal relationship and causal link.

In its committed urging of GNSS signal providers to improve the stability of the satellite navigation systems and its insightful recommendations on how to promote public safety, this book offers a roadmap indicating a truly viable international regime of GNSS civil liability. Relevant international organisations and States, as well as practitioners, are sure to respond positively to its unique and important analysis.