Cris van Eijk
@crisveijk.bsky.social
International law, the (space) commons, and how they're made.
PhD @newcastleuni.bsky.social | 🇺🇸🇳🇱🏳️🌈 | 🔊: krɪs van aɪk | he/him
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/law/study/research/students/current-pgr-students/cristian-van-eijk/
PhD @newcastleuni.bsky.social | 🇺🇸🇳🇱🏳️🌈 | 🔊: krɪs van aɪk | he/him
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/law/study/research/students/current-pgr-students/cristian-van-eijk/
Pinned
Cris van Eijk
@crisveijk.bsky.social
· Jan 30
The exclusive making of space law | Leiden Journal of International Law | Cambridge Core
The exclusive making of space law
doi.org
Excited to share my new article, 'The Exclusive Making of Space Law', just published in Leiden Journal of International Law. This article took 3 weeks to write the first draft, but 3 years to finalise, and I'm grateful to everyone who helped me along the way.
doi.org/10.1017/S0922156524000554
doi.org/10.1017/S0922156524000554
Thanks!! I bump into the paywall over there so often that it's not on my regular list of sites to check, but tbh it probably should be...
February 9, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Thanks!! I bump into the paywall over there so often that it's not on my regular list of sites to check, but tbh it probably should be...
Oh god, they've copy/pasted the metadata from 03/2025 anyway. Did you happen to have RIF numbers from the recent posting, by any chance? I see the update annoucement but not any further details 😅
February 9, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Oh god, they've copy/pasted the metadata from 03/2025 anyway. Did you happen to have RIF numbers from the recent posting, by any chance? I see the update annoucement but not any further details 😅
Wait, where have they posted them? I'm only seeing 2025 releases from last March?
February 9, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Wait, where have they posted them? I'm only seeing 2025 releases from last March?
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
@georgeclarke.bsky.social UCU - 10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery" www.ucu.org.uk/article/14401
10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery"
Northumbria University will be hit with ten days of strike action from Thursday 12 February in a fight to save staff pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today
www.ucu.org.uk
February 9, 2026 at 11:18 AM
@georgeclarke.bsky.social UCU - 10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery" www.ucu.org.uk/article/14401
Indicator that a country**
February 9, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Indicator that a country**
I’ll say it again: for me, the necessary indicator of a country might successfully begin a lunar settlement is whether it can consistently operate an inter-regional public transport system for 15-20 years.
Affordable, reliable, comfortable trains - in inhabited, oxygenated, temperate places.
Affordable, reliable, comfortable trains - in inhabited, oxygenated, temperate places.
Musk says SpaceX to prioritise building self-growing city on Moon reut.rs/3M1ENqF
Musk says SpaceX to prioritise building self-growing city on Moon
Elon Musk said on Sunday that SpaceX has shifted its focus to building a “self‑growing city” on the Moon, which he said could be achieved in less than 10 years.
reut.rs
February 9, 2026 at 12:34 AM
I’ll say it again: for me, the necessary indicator of a country might successfully begin a lunar settlement is whether it can consistently operate an inter-regional public transport system for 15-20 years.
Affordable, reliable, comfortable trains - in inhabited, oxygenated, temperate places.
Affordable, reliable, comfortable trains - in inhabited, oxygenated, temperate places.
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
So bleak that net zero, a decade old Conservative climate policy that is wholly inadequate in scope and ambition, is now too radical for parts of the Labour Party
February 8, 2026 at 9:46 PM
So bleak that net zero, a decade old Conservative climate policy that is wholly inadequate in scope and ambition, is now too radical for parts of the Labour Party
I find this and other work by Liboiron and CLEAR quite helpful on this!! civiclaboratory.nl/2021/01/03/c...
#Collabrary: a methodological experiment for reading with reciprocity - CLEAR - Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research
How can we change academic reading relations that tend to be extractive into something more reciprocal, humble, generous, and accountable?
civiclaboratory.nl
February 7, 2026 at 2:52 PM
I find this and other work by Liboiron and CLEAR quite helpful on this!! civiclaboratory.nl/2021/01/03/c...
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
Unfortunately, that's not how UK journalism works if the story involves trans people. Groups like the Good Law Project put out news-story-like content bc reporters aren't reporting.
The Good Law Project does it well, and I fully trust their data - but in a better world it would be a news story.
The Good Law Project does it well, and I fully trust their data - but in a better world it would be a news story.
February 7, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Unfortunately, that's not how UK journalism works if the story involves trans people. Groups like the Good Law Project put out news-story-like content bc reporters aren't reporting.
The Good Law Project does it well, and I fully trust their data - but in a better world it would be a news story.
The Good Law Project does it well, and I fully trust their data - but in a better world it would be a news story.
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
This is an important read. I don't want to take anything away from it. However:
It really should have been a news item informed by the Good Law Project's data. It isn't bc the British press has shut out any story that contradicts anti-trans talking points.
goodlawproject.org/new-data-sho...
It really should have been a news item informed by the Good Law Project's data. It isn't bc the British press has shut out any story that contradicts anti-trans talking points.
goodlawproject.org/new-data-sho...
New data shows surge in trans kids’ suicides following healthcare rollbacks | Good Law Project
A freedom of information request by Good Law Project has found that deaths by suicide of trans young people under 18 surged following the withdrawal of gender-affirming healthcare
goodlawproject.org
February 7, 2026 at 1:49 PM
This is an important read. I don't want to take anything away from it. However:
It really should have been a news item informed by the Good Law Project's data. It isn't bc the British press has shut out any story that contradicts anti-trans talking points.
goodlawproject.org/new-data-sho...
It really should have been a news item informed by the Good Law Project's data. It isn't bc the British press has shut out any story that contradicts anti-trans talking points.
goodlawproject.org/new-data-sho...
To bang the obvious drum: while we sometimes falsely remember Boris Johnson's resignation as having been caused by PartyGate, it was in fact his appointment of Chris Pincher (*twice*) - despite knowing about his long pattern of sexual assault and misconduct, and then lying about having known it. 👀
February 6, 2026 at 2:39 PM
To bang the obvious drum: while we sometimes falsely remember Boris Johnson's resignation as having been caused by PartyGate, it was in fact his appointment of Chris Pincher (*twice*) - despite knowing about his long pattern of sexual assault and misconduct, and then lying about having known it. 👀
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
Finally out! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Longer post to come but for now, key take-aways: international pressure matters, domestic pressure matters, international treaty law (however contested) matters, and super importantly these days, civil servants who believe in international law matter!
Stealth Change: How the United States and the United Kingdom Embraced International Humanitarian Limits on Nuclear Use
This article analyzes how American and British policy shifted, from rejecting to accepting the applicability of the law of armed conflict (LOAC) to nuclear use. Through a study of primary and secon...
www.tandfonline.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Finally out! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Longer post to come but for now, key take-aways: international pressure matters, domestic pressure matters, international treaty law (however contested) matters, and super importantly these days, civil servants who believe in international law matter!
Even more wild given that 'developing countries' is a term used repeatedly throughout lots of the legal and normative documents drafted by COPUOS.... As in, the Moon Agreement and the latter 4 Principles. 😬
February 6, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Even more wild given that 'developing countries' is a term used repeatedly throughout lots of the legal and normative documents drafted by COPUOS.... As in, the Moon Agreement and the latter 4 Principles. 😬
In Dec, the US explained its no vote on a COPUOS resolution (the 7th such vote in UN history) with:
"the references to gender are ambiguous and unclear. The United States expects that UN resolutions use terminology that clearly refers to women and men, girls and boys, and avoids ambiguous terms."
"the references to gender are ambiguous and unclear. The United States expects that UN resolutions use terminology that clearly refers to women and men, girls and boys, and avoids ambiguous terms."
February 6, 2026 at 9:42 AM
In Dec, the US explained its no vote on a COPUOS resolution (the 7th such vote in UN history) with:
"the references to gender are ambiguous and unclear. The United States expects that UN resolutions use terminology that clearly refers to women and men, girls and boys, and avoids ambiguous terms."
"the references to gender are ambiguous and unclear. The United States expects that UN resolutions use terminology that clearly refers to women and men, girls and boys, and avoids ambiguous terms."
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
If you've recently experienced any adverse decisions from NARA—personnel/promotions, contracting, FOIA, etc.—you really ought to speak with an attorney; those decisions may have been unlawful.
Can't stress enough how *crazily illegal* this is:
Rubio may have been exercising authority after he no longer lawfully could
Byron—running NARA day to day under that authority—may have taken actions that are void from the beginning
Byron may *not* lawfully serve as/perform functions of Archivist
Rubio may have been exercising authority after he no longer lawfully could
Byron—running NARA day to day under that authority—may have taken actions that are void from the beginning
Byron may *not* lawfully serve as/perform functions of Archivist
*BREAKING: Rubio is out as acting Archivist, and has illegally named an ineligble political appointee to "to serve and perform the functions of archivist"—which he did not have the authority to do.
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
February 5, 2026 at 12:39 AM
If you've recently experienced any adverse decisions from NARA—personnel/promotions, contracting, FOIA, etc.—you really ought to speak with an attorney; those decisions may have been unlawful.
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
*BREAKING: Rubio is out as acting Archivist, and has illegally named an ineligble political appointee to "to serve and perform the functions of archivist"—which he did not have the authority to do.
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
Rubio out at NARA; illegally names ineligble political appointee to serve as Archivist
Rubio has no authority to name anyone to serve as Archivist or perform those functions
lastcampaign.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 11:43 PM
*BREAKING: Rubio is out as acting Archivist, and has illegally named an ineligble political appointee to "to serve and perform the functions of archivist"—which he did not have the authority to do.
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
Democracy dies in darkness and this Amazon Prime Day you can get exclusive offers on light switches and blackout curtains!
February 4, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
I'm going to a conference on Friday about the Supreme Court's reliance on "history and tradition," and truly one of the many many problems with originalism is how it often flattens & distorts history, creating jurisprudence that reflects the history of domination but not the history of resistance
February 4, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I'm going to a conference on Friday about the Supreme Court's reliance on "history and tradition," and truly one of the many many problems with originalism is how it often flattens & distorts history, creating jurisprudence that reflects the history of domination but not the history of resistance
new slide image on the general experience of researching redacted/classified materials just dropped
When @jasonleopold.bsky.social told me the Justice Department inexplicably redacted the “J.P.” from “J.P. Morgan” in a J.P. Morgan research note, I didn’t believe him.
But here it is:
But here it is:
February 4, 2026 at 3:39 PM
new slide image on the general experience of researching redacted/classified materials just dropped
Thank you to Linda Mulcahy for inviting me to discuss 'Archival Methods' on her podcast 'Talking About Methods' with @oxfordcsls.bsky.social.
We went into what archives are, why that matters, why legal researchers might use them, and what we do there.
frontiers.csls.ox.ac.uk/making-and-u...
We went into what archives are, why that matters, why legal researchers might use them, and what we do there.
frontiers.csls.ox.ac.uk/making-and-u...
Making and Unmaking Archival Methods - Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies
In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Cris van Eijk about making and unmaking archives.
frontiers.csls.ox.ac.uk
February 4, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Thank you to Linda Mulcahy for inviting me to discuss 'Archival Methods' on her podcast 'Talking About Methods' with @oxfordcsls.bsky.social.
We went into what archives are, why that matters, why legal researchers might use them, and what we do there.
frontiers.csls.ox.ac.uk/making-and-u...
We went into what archives are, why that matters, why legal researchers might use them, and what we do there.
frontiers.csls.ox.ac.uk/making-and-u...
A lot of my work lately involves going through 150+ page PDFs, unfortunately!!
February 2, 2026 at 6:42 PM
A lot of my work lately involves going through 150+ page PDFs, unfortunately!!
and the sequel: I HAVE ADHD do not make me go find my phone in the other room, i have surmounted biology and ongoing apocalypses to get into this productive state and if i get up I WILL GET DISTRACTED and never finish reading the thing i am trying to read right now.
February 2, 2026 at 12:16 PM
and the sequel: I HAVE ADHD do not make me go find my phone in the other room, i have surmounted biology and ongoing apocalypses to get into this productive state and if i get up I WILL GET DISTRACTED and never finish reading the thing i am trying to read right now.
Reposted by Cris van Eijk
THIS. I literally pulled up the latitutde math problem to my parents *last week*.
February 2, 2026 at 11:17 AM
THIS. I literally pulled up the latitutde math problem to my parents *last week*.
That's the rough springboard to natl laws applying in space. Eg US IP law covers US space objects; UK criminal law applies to UK spacecraft (SIA 2018 s.51), & natl employment laws likely apply to space personnel.
Also: Anne McClain was falsely accused of bank account fraud/ID theft under US law.
Also: Anne McClain was falsely accused of bank account fraud/ID theft under US law.
February 2, 2026 at 12:12 AM
That's the rough springboard to natl laws applying in space. Eg US IP law covers US space objects; UK criminal law applies to UK spacecraft (SIA 2018 s.51), & natl employment laws likely apply to space personnel.
Also: Anne McClain was falsely accused of bank account fraud/ID theft under US law.
Also: Anne McClain was falsely accused of bank account fraud/ID theft under US law.