Organisational structure

The MILAMOS Project is an ambitious and project buoyed by the input of academics, government officials, representatives of armed forces, and experts across disciplines and national boundaries. It is a truly global effort with participants taking part in their personal capacity and eager to contribute their expertise and knowledge to a project that will have global impact and hopefully affect global change in the way activities in outer space are conducted.

Funding for the MILAMOS Project comes predominantly from McGill University. The responsibility for the management of resources and for the ensuring the progress of the McGill Manual falls under the direction of the Project Director, Professor Ram Jakhu.

The Project Director also assumes administrative and financial responsibility for the Project, and heads the partnership of global institutions and stakeholders involved in the Project. The Project Director is assisted by Managing Editor Mr. David Kuan-Wei Chen, who heads the MILAMOS Secretariat that is responsible for providing the necessary administrative and logistical support for the Project, and is assisting in the editing of the text of the Manual.

The Board of Advisors and External Consultants will consist of prominent and experienced persons from various States and stakeholder institutions. The Board is present to advise the Project Director in the strategic direction and management of the Project, and to ensure that all relevant perspectives are adequately considered and reflected during the Manual-drafting process. The Board is also functions as a conduit to inform and engage States and governments about the manual-drafting process.

The Co-Editors of the Manual have the ultimate responsibility for directing the drafting of the Rules and Commentaries and the compilation of the Rules and Commentaries into the final text of the Manual. The Co-Editors are Professor Ram Jakhu and Professor Steven Freeland, who co-chair and lead the Editorial Committee, and together have the final say on the text of the Manual through consensus.

Major editorial decisions in the MILAMOS Project are formally made by the Editorial Committee. The Committee amalgamates draft rules, and ensures the final text of the black-letter rules and associated commentary of the Manual is coherently and consistent drafted in accordance with the standardised drafting guidelines. All major editorial decisions in the Committee are made by consensus, and if consensus is not possible, the Co-Editors will have final say. The Committee is composed of the Co-Editors, the Lead Technical Expert, and invited External Experts or External Advisors, who are recognised and experienced persons from the public or private sector space operators, or academia from various States. Care has been taken to ensure the Editorial Committee members are recognised and experienced persons from the public or private sector space operators or academia from various States, with particular participation of experts from the major spacefaring States of China, Russia and the United States.

The Group of Experts is made up of Core Legal Experts with balanced representation from all regions of the world and military, public, civilian and academic sectors. There is also a Group of Technical Experts, composed of scientists and persons with specialist technical expertise in the space domain.

Associate Experts can also be called upon to contribute and/or review rules on an as-needed basis. The Research Coordinator, Mr. Bayar Goswami, is present to initiate, supplement and ensure progress of the drafting process and coordinate the research efforts of the Core Experts. Research Assistants and Post-doctoral candidates will be present to assist the work of the Research and Drafting Groups.

Once the first drafts of all the rules have been adopted at plenary, they will be carefully and thoroughly edited and integrated in the clear and cohesive final text of the Manual. The text will be peer-reviewed by a carefully selected international panel of Expert Reviewers composed of independent and reputable legal, technical, and other duly qualified experts before the Manual is submitted for publication by a distinguished academic publisher.

 

For a detailed description and organisational structure of the Project, please refer to the attached document (version July 2021).