Discussions On The Principle Of Common Heritage Of Mankind

On October 1st, 2010, Chang-er no.2 was launched successfully by the long March 13th c rockets in Xichang Satellite Launch Center. On December 8th, 2010, China's research vessel called Dayang no.1 sailed from Changzhou wharf to the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and the Atlantic, in order to carry out the largest scale research task of our country by far. With the rapid development of science and technology, the exploration targets of human beings extend to some mysterious and undiscovered areas like moon and deep sea. But countries hold different opinions on how to explore and how to make use of these areas and their resources.All these make the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind been spotlighted in the international community. The problem of how to use these areas to bring benefit to mankind and how to regulate countries behaviors by enacting rules of international law was also brought to the agenda of international legislation. So, doing research on the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind is necessary and has practice significance. There are four parts in this paper.The first part brings a brief overview to the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind. This part illustrates the forming process of the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind, including the process of proposing and affirming. Besides, this part introduces the unique legal nature of the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind. The main content of the principle is also discussed, such as belonging to all human, using on purpose of peace, and so on. Finally, it makes a brief summary to the historical merits of the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind.The second part interprets the practice of the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind, containing the practice in the outer space and the international sea-bed area. The part of the practice in the international sea-bed area mainly introduces the rules of"The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea"(UNCLOS) in which the international sea-bed area was referred to. And the part of the practice in the outer space discusses some provisions of the"Outer Space Treaty"and"The Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies".The third part introduces the challenges faced by the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind. There are many challenges in the practice of the outer space law and the maritime international law. The challenges in the practice of the maritime international law are embodied in the international submarine development system and the International Seabed Authority (ISBA). And the challenges in the outer space law are reflected by the acceptance and the appliance of the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind.The last part is the development of the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind. This part mainly discusses that whether the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind is suitable for the Antarctic. The characteristics of the Antarctic and the existing Antarctic treaty system are introduced in this part. The Antarctic treaty system gives expression to the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind in many aspects. On the whole, the trend is that the Antarctic is moving forward to the Common Heritage of Mankind.All in all, the Principle of Common Heritage of Mankind is still a principle in development and is in need of perfecting. However, it plays a positive role in normalized usage and method guidance in the outer space law and the maritime international law, and it will bring significant influences and benefits to the future development of the International Law.