ASTRONAUT BUZZ ALDRIN WALKS ON LUNAR SURFACE NEAR THE LEG OF THE LUNAR MODULE IN JULY 1969. IMAGE CREDIT: JSC/NASA
By Tom Hale02 MAY 2022,
Canadian astronauts, you better watch your behavior. Canada is looking to amend its criminal code to allow the prosecution of its astronauts who commit crimes on the Moon, as well as on the journey there.
The proposal was buried deep within Canada’s 2022 federal budget implementation bill, presented to the House of Commons last Thursday. In essence, any crime committed on the Moon or during space flight will be dealt with as if it had been committed in Canada.
“A Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offense is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada,” reads the measure included in Bill C-19.
It goes on to explain that this includes crimes that are committed “on the surface of the Moon.”
The proposed amendment comes after Canada joined NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in signing up to the Lunar Gateway project, a planned small space station that will cruise around the Moon in lunar orbit.
Presumably, this means that Canadian astronauts, until now, could have committed crimes while spending time on the International Space Station (ISS) with no legal repercussions. Commander Hadfield, you could have literally (not just fictionally) got away with murder.
The debate around the lawlessness of space isn’t entirely hypothetical. In 2019, US-born astronaut Anne McClain was accused of committing history’s first-ever space crime when she allegedly used the ISS computer to access the online bank records of her estranged partner.
The allegations were subsequently found to be false, but the whole debacle did raise the issue of potential crimes in space. Professor Ram S. Jakhu, one of the world’s leading international space law experts from McGill University in Canada, described the affair as “an important and urgent wakeup call” to adopt new legal rules of extra-territorial law.
“It would be logical and imperative that such rules are the same for all space-faring humans, irrespective of the fact that they hold different Earthly nationalities. This would need new and innovative thinking and approach, entirely different from past and present practices based on Earthly ‘State or Nation centric’ approach in the making and application of space laws,” Professor Jakhu wrote for Lawyer Monthly.
Canada proposes new law to punish moon crimes
THOM DUNN TUE MAY 3, 2022
A recent proposed update to the Canada's Criminal Code will extend the Mounties' jurisdiction to the moon. As CBC reports:
In the Budget Implementation Act, under the subhead Lunar Gateway — Canadian crew members, the amendment reads:
"A Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offence is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada."
That, according to the amendment, includes any act or omission committed on the [NASA-bakced orbiting space platform] Lunar Gateway, while being transported to or from the Lunar Gateway, or on the surface of the moon.
To be fair, there have only been 14 Canadian astronauts ever, period. But this law would have a potential impact beyond those 14 people, and their future country-brethren — it would also extend to citizens of other countries who commit crimes against Canadians, as Phys.org notes:
This would include crimes en route to or on the Lunar Gateway station currently in the works to orbit the moon, and also "on the surface of the moon," the document states.
Foreign astronauts who "threaten the life or security of a Canadian crew member" on a Canadian-supported space mission could also be prosecuted, according to the ways and means motion.
The prospect that a nation-state could extend its legal jurisdiction to the bodies of any of its citizens even when they're literally not on the planet is deeply concerning, to say the least (though could certainly make for some fascinating sci-fi legal drama). The news comes as the Canadian space program is in the process of developing a robot arm for the Lunar Gateway, which is set to launch in May 2024.
At press time, Chairface Chippendale could not be reached for comment.
Canada wants to prosecute moon crimes [Rafi Schwartz / MIC]
Crimes on the moon could soon be added to Canada's Criminal Code [Mark Gollom / CBC]
MOUNTIES ON THE MOON
CANADA SAYS ASTRONAUTS ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO MURDER EACH OTHER
WELL, OKAY THEN.
FUTURISM
The Canadian government has snuck a Criminal Code amendment into its 2022 federal budget making it a crime to commit illegal acts in outer space, Canadian newspaper The National Post reports.
Unsurprisingly, the sneaky amendment mostly refers to Canadian astronauts.
“A Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offence is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada,” the proposed federal budget Bill C-19 reads.
The amendment suggests, curiously, that it’s technically not against Canadian law for a Canadian to murder another Canadian on the Moon right now.
But the reality, unsurprisingly, is complex. While Canada did sign a 1998 treaty binding its astronauts to Canadian criminal law, the outcome of a Canadian astronaut committing crimes against another country’s astronaut is far from clear, in the National Post‘s analysis.
Cosmic Crimes
It’s a fascinating new example of lawmakers becoming wary of an imminent future, with more humans getting the opportunity to travel into space than ever before.
The Canadian government is also likely preparing for its involvement in NASA’s Lunar Gateway, the US space agency’s planned space station in lunar orbit.
So far, only nine Canadians have traveled into space since the mid 1980s. But with the Canadian Space Agency getting more involved in US efforts to populate the Moon and its orbit, astronauts will have to watch their back: space crimes committed by space travelers could have dire consequences upon their return.
READ MORE: Canadian astronauts no longer free to rob and kill with abandon in space or on the moon [The National Post]
More on Canadian astronauts: Former Astronaut Details Quest to Grow Cannabinoids in Space
WELL, OKAY THEN.
FUTURISM
MAY 3, 2022
The Canadian government has snuck a Criminal Code amendment into its 2022 federal budget making it a crime to commit illegal acts in outer space, Canadian newspaper The National Post reports.
Unsurprisingly, the sneaky amendment mostly refers to Canadian astronauts.
“A Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offence is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada,” the proposed federal budget Bill C-19 reads.
The amendment suggests, curiously, that it’s technically not against Canadian law for a Canadian to murder another Canadian on the Moon right now.
But the reality, unsurprisingly, is complex. While Canada did sign a 1998 treaty binding its astronauts to Canadian criminal law, the outcome of a Canadian astronaut committing crimes against another country’s astronaut is far from clear, in the National Post‘s analysis.
Cosmic Crimes
It’s a fascinating new example of lawmakers becoming wary of an imminent future, with more humans getting the opportunity to travel into space than ever before.
The Canadian government is also likely preparing for its involvement in NASA’s Lunar Gateway, the US space agency’s planned space station in lunar orbit.
So far, only nine Canadians have traveled into space since the mid 1980s. But with the Canadian Space Agency getting more involved in US efforts to populate the Moon and its orbit, astronauts will have to watch their back: space crimes committed by space travelers could have dire consequences upon their return.
READ MORE: Canadian astronauts no longer free to rob and kill with abandon in space or on the moon [The National Post]
More on Canadian astronauts: Former Astronaut Details Quest to Grow Cannabinoids in Space
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