Vladimír Kopal

Vladimír Kopal (born August 14, 1928 in Jaroměř ; † January 27, 2014 ) was a Czech legal scholar . His core area was international law . He is considered a pioneer of space law .

Before joining the United Nations, Kopal was Head of the Department of International Law and Organizations at the Institute of Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts and Associate Professor of International Law at Charles University in Prague . He was also a professor of international law at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen .

From 1959 to 1980 he was a founding member and scientific secretary of the Commission on Astronautics at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences .

From 1962 Kopal was a delegate of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic to the Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) of the UN. From 1999 to 2003 and from 2008 to 2009 he was chairman of the legal subcommittee there.

After returning to his home country, Kopal was a member of the Space Activities Committee of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. He also held offices or was a member of many organizations that deal with space or international law, including the International Astronautical Federation and the International Academy of Astronautics .

Awards

• 2010: Lifetime Award from the International Astronautical Federation

literature

• Stephan Hobe : In memoriam Vladimír Kopal . In: Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht , Issue 2, 2014, pp. 182f.

Web links

• CV on the UN website (PDF, English)
• Obituary on the website of the UN Representation of the Czech Republic (English)