Evidence from Earth Observation Satellites: Emerging Legal Issues (Studies in Space Law) (Studies in Space Law, 7)

Satellite technologies are rapidly improving, offering increased opportunities for monitoring laws, and using images as evidence in court. Evidence from Earth Observation Satellites analyses whether data from satellite technologies can be a legally reliable, effective evidential tool in contemporary legal systems. This unique interdisciplinary volume brings together leading experts from academia, government, international institutions, industry and judiciary to consider many emerging issues surrounding the use of these technologies in legal strategies. Issues examined include the opportunities arising from technological developments, existing regulatory applications and operational experiences, and admissibility in courts and tools for ensuring the integrity of evidence. It also examines privacy impacts under existing legislation and provides a new conceptual framework for debating the acceptability of such surveillance methods.

Ray Purdy is a Senior Research Fellow in Law at University College London (previously Imperial College and the University of Oxford), where he has published and conducted research on satellite monitoring and the law for over fifteen years.

Denise Leung is a Research Analyst at the World Resources Institute in Washington DC. She was previously a Visiting Attorney at the Environmental Law Institute and a Research Associate at the Centre for Law and Environment, University College London.