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Institute of Air and Space Law

Institute of Air and Space Law

Welcome to the Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL) of the University of Lapland. The Institute is housed within the Faculty of Law. It is the northernmost institute of its kind globally – we are located right below the Arctic Circle, in Rovaniemi, Finland. The name of the institute in Finnish is “Lapin yliopiston ilmailu- ja avaruusoikeuden instituutti”.

The Institute was established in 1997. The first Director of the Institute was Professor Maurice N. Andem (1997-2009). The current Director is Professor Lotta Viikari (2009-). The primary objective of the Institute is to promote research and teaching within the field of air and space law, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

We hope that you will find useful the information provided here. For further information, please contact the Institute.

Teaching and Research

In the Faculty of Law of the University of Lapland, we offer annually courses in air and space law. It is possible to study air and space law all the way from the very basics to a degree of a Doctor of Laws. Our students come from Finland and abroad, varying from undergraduate to doctoral students.

In the field of research, we have a small but enthusiastic group of scholars sharing a genuine interest in air and space law. Environmental regulation of the space sector has long been on our research agenda. Space and air law related security questions, drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) and air sovereignty are other topical issue areas we concentrate on.

We are very open to exchanging ideas that promote cooperation in teaching and research of air and space law world-wide. We are also firmly committed to cooperation as concerns research projects and to active participation in research consortiums.

In addition to doing research in English in particular, we also try to promote publishing in Finnish, as it is a small country language in which there have been very few air and space law materials available thus far.
Study Opportunities

The Institute of Air and Space Law of the University of Lapland seeks to actively encourage exchange of students and research personnel specializing in air and space law.

For more information about studying at the University of Lapland, see http://www.ulapland.fi/InEnglish/studies

About the Faculty of Law in particular, see http://www.ulapland.fi/InEnglish/Units/Faculty_of_Law

Applications for postgraduate studies can be submitted at any time during the academic year.

Director
Lotta_Viikari_Kuva_Anna_Huovinen.jpg

The Director of the Institute (since April 2009) is Ms. Lotta Viikari, who also serves as Professor of Public International Law at the University of Lapland. She holds the degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Lapland, the degree of Licentiate of Administrative Sciences from the University of Joensuu, and a Master´s Degree in Law from the University of Lapland.

Dr. Viikari has published especially in the areas of space law, international environmental law, and law of the sea. Her publications include three monographs of which The Environmental Element in Space Law: Assessing the Present and Charting the Future (Studies in Space Law, Vol. 3, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden/Boston, 2008) has been awarded the Social Science Book Award of the International Academy of Astronautics in 2009 and the Finnish Lawyers´ Society Award for the best legal PhD dissertation in Finland in 2007.

Dr. Viikari is the National Point of Contact in Finland for the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL).


Contact

Professor Lotta Viikari
email: Lotta.Viikari (at) ulapland.fi

Institute of Air and Space Law
Faculty of Law
University of Lapland
PB 122
96101 Rovaniemi
FINLAND