Bin Cheng (; 1921 – 16 October 2019) was a Chinese-born British legal scholar. An authority on international air and

space law Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue effort ...

, he served as professor and dean of the

University College London Faculty of Laws The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL), itself part of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the world's leading ...

and honorary president of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law. He was a fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

and an honorary fellow at UCL. He was named an ''officier'' of the

Ordre des Palmes Academiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

by the French government and awarded the

Santos-Dumont Merit Medal The Santos-Dumont Merit Medal is a Brazilian decoration created to honor civilians and military, Brazilian or foreign, for outstanding services rendered to the Brazilian Air Force or in recognition of its qualities and value in relation to aerona ...

by the Brazilian government.

Life and career

Bin Cheng was born in 1921 in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, with his

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. He was the son of Cheng Tien-hsi (F. T. Cheng), a jurist and diplomat who served as a judge of the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cen ...

and as the last ambassador of the Republic of China to the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1950. Cheng earned a ''Licence-en-droit'' degree from the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

in Switzerland in 1944. He obtained a Ph.D. in law in 1950 and an

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in 1966, both from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(UCL). Cheng was professor of Air and Space Law at UCL from 1967 to 1986, and was emeritus professor afterwards. From 1971 to 1973, he served as dean of the

UCL Faculty of Laws The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL), itself part of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's University College London#Faculties and departments, 11 constituent faculties and is based in Londo ...

. In 2008, he was named honorary president of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law (ISPL).

Contributions

An authority on international air and space law, Cheng has been described as the "Father of International Air Law". During the height of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

in the 1960s, Cheng investigated the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

's resolutions 1721 A (December 1961) and 1962 (December 1963) regarding legal principles governing the outer space. He invented the theory of instant customary international law, which states that ''

opinio juris ''Opinio'' was a Dutch weekly magazine which was briefly published between 2007 and 2008. The magazine was headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. History ''Opinio'' was first appeared on 18 January 2007. The magazine ceased operations and d ...

'' is the only necessary element for the creation of a new

customary international law Customary international law is an aspect of international law involving the principle of custom. Along with general principles of law and treaties, custom is considered by the International Court of Justice, jurists, the United Nations, and its ...

, which may be created "over night" as long as ''opinio juris'' about its existence is not rejected by member states of the international community. This theory has gained support over time. According to the ISPL, Cheng's 1953 book, ''General Principles of Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals'', is considered the most important treatment of the subject. He also published the books ''The Law of International Air Transport'' (1962) and ''Studies in International Space Law'' (1997). The latter reprints his pioneering articles on international air and space law. In 2017, Cheng donated his collection of more than 3,000 books and legal documents to Northwest University of Politics and Law (NWUPL) in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

, China, and NWUPL established the Bin Cheng Air and Space Law Library and the Cheng Tien-Hsi International Law Library in the memory of Cheng and his father.

Honours

* Honorary LLD,

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

(1978) * Fellow,

* Honorary Fellow, University College London * Officier,

, Government of France (1988) *

, Government of Brazil (1989) * Lifetime Achievement Book Award,

International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...

(1997) * Honorary President, London Institute of Space Policy and Law (2008) * Lifetime Achievement Award, European Air Law Association (2010)

Personal life

Cheng was married to Katherine ( zh, s=傅锦培, p=Fu Jinpei), the eldest daughter of Foo Ping-sheung, who served as ambassador of the Republic of China to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The couple had a son and a daughter. Cheng died on 16 October 2019 in London, aged 98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Bin 1921 births 2019 deaths British legal scholars Chinese legal scholars Chinese emigrants to the United Kingdom Writers from Zhongshan University of Geneva alumni Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques