***This event has been canceled in line with a directive from Harvard senior leadership to cancel all events at least until April 30, 2020. If the event is rescheduled, a notification will be made on the HLS PILAC website. ***

Time and Location

April 16th, 2020 from noon to 1:00 PM in Pound Hall Room 102 on the Harvard Law School campus. Lunch will be provided. This event is open to the public.

This event is co-sponsored by the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict and the Harvard Law School Space Law Society.

Summary

It’s often said that “no one wins if war extends into space.” Nonetheless, with modern militaries relying on capabilities provided by space, many see a war in space as inevitable. What does international law have to say about a conflict that begins in, or extends to, outer space? Does the law of armed conflict even apply? If so, how does it apply as a practical matter given the unique characteristics of outer space and military space operations therein?

Biography

Squadron Leader Kieran R.J. Tinkler is a Legal Officer within the Directorate of Legal Services (Royal Air Force). He is currently a Military Professor and Associate Director for the Law of Coalition Air and Space Warfare at the Stockton Center for International Law, U.S. Naval War College. He has served in various assignments, most recently advising Headquarters Air Command on operational law issues. Immediately prior to this, he spent six months in the Middle East dealing with targeting law matters under Operation Inherent Resolve (ISIS campaign). Sqn Ldr Tinkler is a core expert to the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations, which will become the definitive document on military and security law as it applies to space. His Ph.D. research is focused on the application and interpretation of targeting law rules within the law of armed conflict in the event that hostilities begins in, or extend to, outer space.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA, PIA17832.