Re-defining maritime piracy : an international perspective

Abstract

Piracy is an international crime, committed by a non-state actor, specifically criminal violence committed at sea, either from a vessel flying no national flag, or one flying a national flag but without authorization from a national authority. It does not normally include crimes on board a vessel among passengers or crew. It is termed a crime jure gentium because it is a crime that affects all States alike. One may define international crimes as acts of extreme gravity, entailing criminal liability of the perpetrator in customary international law, acts which run counter to certain values considered important by all states, thus affecting the interests of the whole community and resulting in inderogable obligatio erga omnes that are designed to repress such crimes. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, piracy consists of criminal acts of violence, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft directed on the High Seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft. Piracy can also be committed against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State. In fact piracy has been the first example of universal jurisdiction. Nevertheless today the international community is facing many problems to try pirates. The first part of the thesis deals with the basic concepts of piracy, the various definitions of piracy and the differences between the elements of piracy and those of terrorism which are notably distinct from each other. This thesis is based mainly on this distinction. The notion of piracy extends to too many branches. These branches include piracy under municipal law especially Maltese law, piracy under customary international law and piracy within the Geneva Convention on the High Seas 1958 and the Convention on the Law of the High Seas 1982 together with other Conventions dealt with and analysed throughout the thesis. Moreover this is also linked to the idea of jurisdiction; therefore an analysis of who can prosecute is also carried out. The second part of the thesis is an extension of the first part. It questions whether a separate court for piracy crimes is needed. Also the context of in Southeast Asia and Somalia is analysed thoroughly with the proposed solutions by the various entities. There is an ongoing discussion on the impact of maritime piracy in international law vis-à-vis globalisation and what each State can do to be protected against such crimes. However it is not only States which give their contribution towards anti-piracy measures but also the IMO and the UN which through Resolutions guide shipmasters how to act in the case of attacks and prevention. The last chapter looks briefly at all the points which have been touched upon and concludes with amendments which should be done to legislation already in force so as to ameliorate international piracy laws.