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regional wrap-up CENTRAL THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE FOR SPACE LAW T he timing of the risky mission by the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in mid-May could hardly have been any better for Ram Jakhu of McGill University's Faculty of Law. It occurred on the heels of a three- day international interdisciplinary congress on space debris organized by the university's Institute of Air & Space Law, of which Jakhu is a professor. "Did you hear that the American space shut- tle was almost hit by a piece of space debris?" he asked in reference to the Atlantis crew dodging a catastrophic collision with such orbital waste May 12 — only three days after the meeting of experts ended in Montreal. They had gathered to discuss grow- ing concerns over the impact of space junk: non-functional satellites, launch vehicles, and related objects that orbit the Earth uncontrolled at more than 25,000 km/h. NASA has pointed out that, at those speeds, something as small as one-third of the width of a dime can penetrate a shuttle's cabin causing a major, if not fatal, problem. There are an estimated 13,000 to 20,000 pieces of man-made debris floating in orbit. The danger hit closer to home Feb. 10, when the inactive Russian satellite Cosmo-2251 struck active U.S. com- mercial satellite Iridum-33 approxi- mately 800 kilometres above Siberia and knocked out some cellphone ser- vice. The crash left a cloud of space junk, about 500 pieces with some big- ger than a tennis ball, which threatened Canadian satellites Radarsat-1 and -2 that cost taxpayers $1 billion to pro- duce and put into orbit. There were two other incidents last year. The U.S had to shoot down a falling toxic satellite over the Pacific Ocean fearing it might hit land, then International Space Station crew mem- bers had to flee into a Soyuz capsule to escape oncoming debris that conse- quently missed the station. In 2007, China tested a missile by firing it at one of its inactive satellites and in one shot increased the amount of overall space debris by 10 per cent, according to Gérard Brachet, a French space policy consultant who attended The Faculty of Law at UBC is pleased to announce the outcome of the 2007/2008 Mooting Season. Special thanks to the law rms and individuals who make our participation in these competitions possible, and congratulations to all for another successful season. Int'l Counselling Competition Sponsored by Douglas Cochran Team: Jarrett Plonka, Jennifer Poirier, Tamra Meshel, & Victor Barta Advisors: Douglas Cochran & Toiressa Jesperson ABA Negotiation Competition Sponsored by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP Team: Andrew Gray & David Volk Advisors: Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Jim Schmidt, and Owen James Aboriginal Kawaskimhon Moot Sponsored by Mandell Pinder Team: Rosalind Campbell, Jeanna Harnden, & David Wells Coaches: Mandell Pinder Advisors: Gordon Christie & Bruce Stadfeld Canadian National Mediation Advocacy Competition Teams: Jesse Desilets & Dia Montgomery; and Daniel Lout & Jaime Sarophim Advisors: John Kleefeld & Sharon Sutherland Both teams placed as semi-nalists UBC/UVic Moot Sponsored by Davis LLP Team: Rochelle Pauls, Tony Paisana, Dan Getz, Peter Millerd & Neal Kansy Advisors: Joost Blom, QC & Elizabeth Edinger Winners of the Begbie Trophy Canadian Corporate/Securities Moot Sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Team: Victor Barta, Rong (Lauren) Liang, Elicia Salzberg, Matthew Smith & Chris Walker Advisor: Mary Childs Placed 3rd overall with joint third place standing for their factums Gale Cup Moot Sponsored by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP Team: Graham Kosakoski, Kendra Naidoo, Col- leen McLeod, & John Nelson Advisors: Janine Benedet & Isabel Grant Placed 3rd ning individual oralist prizes Jessup International Moot Sponsored by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Team: Jonathan Duckles, Sarah Kalil, Kaitlin McKinnon, Anthony Purgas, & Jennifer Wong Coaches: Tina Cicchetti & Kelly Keenan Advisor: Karin Mickelson Award for 4th Place Memorials Mathews Dinsdale & Clark Labour Arbitration Competition Sponsored by Harris & Company and Team: Parham Peiroo & Jason Banack Advisors: Jim MacIntyre, QC, Ryan Anderson, & Gradin Tyler 8 JULY 2009 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com Untitled-1 1 Laskin Moot Sponsored by McCarthy Tétrault LLP Team: Mike Fink, DJ Larkin, Claire Sung, Jennifer Vallance, & David Volk Advisor: Bill Black & Mary Liston Oxford Int'l Intellectual Property Moot Sponsored by Oyen Wiggs Team: Catherine Newnham & Jarrett Plonka Researcher: Mike Reid Reserve: Bruno Godin Advisor: Mira Sundara Rajan Assistant Coach: Matthew Canzer Semi-nalists overall with Kosakoski & Naidoo win- Peter Burns Moot Sponsored by S.R. Chamberlain, QC, Richard CC Peck, QC, & Michael Tammen Competitors: Aaron Burns, Christina Cook, Rebecca Hockin, Anthony La Bar, Margaret Mackie, Preston Parsons, Laura McPheeters, & George Roper Advisors: Christine Boyle & Karima Andani Coaches: The Hon. Judges Joanne Challenger, El- len Gordon, Jocelyn Palmer and Herbert Weitzel; lawyers Joe Doyle, Richard Fowler, Chris Johnson, Tara Laker, Matt Nathanson, Michele Peacock, Patti Tomasson & Sandra Watson Judges presiding on the case: The Hon. Judges Conni Bagnall, Tom Crabtree & Carol Baird Ellan Winners: Laura McPheeters & George Roper Western Canada Moot (MacIntyre Cup) Sponsored by Jim MacIntyre, QC Team: Laura McPheeters and George Roper Advisor: Christine Boyle Coaches: Karima Andani and Richard Cairns, QC 2nd Place. Advanced to the Sopinka Cup Sopinka Cup Moot Sponsored by The Advocates Society Team: Laura McPheeters & George Roper Advisor: Christine Boyle Coaches: Karima Andani & Patti Tomasson Winners of the 2009 Sopinka Cup. McPheeters received award for Best Cross-Examination. Wilson Moot Sponsored by Heenan Blaikie LLP Team: Kaity Cooper, Keith Evans, Ava Murphy, Ted Murray & Zara Rahman Advisors: Robin Elliot, QC and Margot Young Won 1st Place Prize in the Factum competition www.law.ubc.ca 6/16/09 11:10:58 AM