| CODE | INL5011 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Contemporary Threats to Maritime Security | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | International Law | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit is designed to enable students to understand international maritime security regimes which are a focal part of effective ocean governance, especially in the 21st century where crime has become increasingly transnational. At the same time, States - when acting alone - are impeded from effectively addressing these threats. Inter-State cooperation therefore becomes essential for the effective repression of these crimes which threaten maritime security. The study-unit commences by introducing the students to the concept of maritime security and its importance for the stability of effective ocean governance. It then provides an overview of the seven contemporary threats to maritime security identified in the 2008 Report on the Oceans and the Law of the Sea and elaborated upon in later reports such as the 2020 Report on the Oceans and the Law of the Sea. It explores in detail specific crimes such as piracy and armed robbery against ships, terrorist acts involving shipping, offshore installations and other maritime interests, and the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances by sea. The study-unit examines the applicable treaty law, customary international law and other international instruments to prevent and suppress these threats. Particular focus is given to maritime security regimes which demonstrate international cooperation in the fight against such crimes. The study-unit concludes with a set of interactive sessions (4 hours). These sessions will address different case studies which demonstrate various dimensions of and challenges posed by specific maritime security threats. Students are required to develop a course of action for such scenarios focusing primarily on an examination of the applicable legal regimes. This approach aims to contribute to a broader understanding of the complexities of international law regulating maritime security threats and maritime operational realities. Study-unit Aims: The aim is to provide the student with an up-to-date picture of the current maritime security regime as related to international law and to understand the importance of cooperation as pivotal to the regulatory process fighting threats thereto with the end result that students will be equipped to apply learned knowledge to particular fact situations occurring via the maritime domain. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Comprehend the nature of the maritime security threats and the corresponding legal regimes; 2. Provide a legal evaluation of various instances of State practice; 3. Comprehend the essential role to be played by cooperation in effective repression of contemporary threats to maritime security. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Be conversant in critical reasoning with regard to effective repression of maritime crimes; 2. Apply learned knowledge to particular fact situations occurring via the maritime domain. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main texts: - Natalie Klein, Maritime Security and The Law of the Sea (Oxford University Press 2011) - Patricia Mallia, Migrant Smuggling by Sea: Combating a Current Threat to Maritime Security through the Creating of a Co-operative Framework (Martinus Nijhoff 2010) - James Kraska and Raul Pedrozo, International Maritime Security Law (Martinus Nijhoff 2013) - David J. Attard and others (eds), The IMLI Manual on International Marine Environmental Law and Maritime Security Law (Oxford University Press 2016) - Douglas Guilfoyle (ed), Modern Piracy - Legal Challenges and Responses (EE Publishing 2013) - Efthymios Papastavridis, The Interception of Vessels on the High Seas: Contemporary Challenges to the Legal Order of the Oceans’ (Hart Publishing 2013) - Secretary-General of the United Nations, ‘Report of the Secretary General on Oceans and the Law of the Sea’, 10 March 2008, UN Doc. A/63/63 - Chris Trelawny, ‘The IMO: Maritime Security – An Essential Feature for Sustainable Maritime Development and Global Ocean Governance’ in David Joseph Attard (ed), The IMLI Treatise on Global Ocean Governance Volume III: IMO and Global Ocean Governance (Oxford University Press 2018) - Jan Engel de Boer, ‘The IMO: Maritime Terrorism/Security and Global Ocean Governance’ in David Joseph Attard (ed), The IMLI Treatise on Global Ocean Governance Volume III: IMO and Global Ocean Governance (Oxford University Press 2018) Supplementary Readings: - Felicity Attard, ‘IMO’s Contribution to International Law Regulating Maritime Security’ (2014) 45 Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 479. - Christian Bueger, ‘What is Maritime Security’ (2015) 53 Marine Policy 149. - Brian Wilson, ‘Five Maritime Security Developments that Will Resonate for a Generation’ (2015) 6 Harvard Law School National Security Journal 1. Main International Instruments: - International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (London, 1 November 1974, entered into force 1 May 1991) 1184 UNTS 3; 14 ILM 959 (SOLAS) - International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (Hamburg, 27 April 1979, entered into force 22 June 1985) 1405 UNTS 97 (SAR Convention) - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay, 10 December 1982, entered into force 16 November 1994) 1833 UNTS 3; 21 ILM 1261 (LOSC) - Convention on the High Seas (Geneva, 29 April 1958, entered into force 30 September 1962) 13 UST 2312; 450 UNTS 11 (HSC) - Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (Geneva, 29 April 1958, entered into force 10 September 1964) 15 UST 1606; 516 UNTS 205 (TSC) - Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf (Rome, 10 March 1988, entered into force 1 March 1992) 27 ILM 685 (SUA Protocol) - Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Vienna, 20 December 1988, entered into force 11 November 1990) UN Doc E/CONF.82/15; 28 ILM 493 (Vienna Drugs Convention) Agreement concerning cooperation in Suppressing Illicit Maritime and Air Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in the Caribbean Area (San Jose, Costa Rica, 10 April 2003, not yet in force) (Aruba Agreement) - Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Malta concerning cooperation to Suppress the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, their Delivery Systems, and Related Materials by Sea (Washington, 15 March 2007, entered into force 19 December 2007) - Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas concerning cooperation in maritime law enforcement (Nassau, signed and entered into force on 29 July 2004) |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Seminar & Independent Study | ||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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