Analysis of the Legality of Retanian Actions in Response to Clena's Attempted Satellite Launch

In the light of a potentially upcoming pandemic, in February  2020, a Retanian multimillionaire John Smith decided to escape with his family to one of the two islands on the Beretan Sea. He purchased it by paying to the Retanian government $2,000,000 and called it ‘Artie Island’, after his grandfather’s name. He then spend another $5,000,000 turning the uninhabited island into his private island retreat. Everything was done in private and the action was unnoticed to the wider society and to the world until March 2020. Clena’s Prime Minister reacted very vocally against this action on national tv, but his government did not take any further action because it was busy dealing with the global pandemic. In June 2020, the matter was brought up again. In an official statement, John Smith announced that he purchased the island from the Retanian government because the islands have some old bunkers built by Retanians during the war so he assumed that there was the pre-existing sovereignty of Reta. Clena’s government officially replied that the islands were considered as terra nullius and that there was no effective or continued exercise of authority over the two islands by any state and, therefore, the whole transaction made by John Smith has to be considered as null and void. Clena’s government requested that John Smith and his family leave the island immediately. Shortly after, the Clena’s government placed its military ships in close proximity to both island.

·Demonstrate sound written expression and clear structure through:

·- referencing (OSCOLA footnoting and bibliography),

·- writing a coherent as well as a well-argued analysis of the relevant issues in good clear English,

·- a clear, precise, well-structured analysis.

Demonstrate a clear and precise legal analysis through:

-an ability to use library and other information retrieval sources to research issues in public international law in some depth,

-an accurate knowledge of the rules and principles in the relevant topics,

-an ability to apply and analyse the law critically to the issues raised.

The  Public International Law coursework will consist of a case problem.

The submitted essay has to be typed or word-processed, must be clear and presentable, in ARIAL font size 12 and one and a half line spaced. In order to expect to pass this module, you must use footnotes and a bibliography, according to the OSCOLA Reference Guide.

Clena‘s Prime Minister reacted by claiming every state in the world’s right to send any satellite into space, even a military one, as long as it was for peaceful purposes. Reta objected by saying that Clena’s satellite would be able to take photos of Reta’s territory from space and that this breached international law. Clena refuted these arguments, arguing that customary international law clearly allowed it. On 10th March 2020, Clena attempted to launch its satellite but 10 seconds before launch, it was destroyed by a ballistic missile launched from a military cruiser in the high seas belonging to Reta.

Analyse the legality of Reta’s actions.