IMO's contribution to international law regulating maritime security

Abstract

Safety of life at sea has long been considered a paramount consideration in the application of the law of the sea. Over the years a body of laws has developed concerned with regulating maritime security-indeed this field of law has developed into a major branch of international law. The main goal of this study is to examine the contribution of the International Maritime Organization toward the progressive development and codification of this branch of law. Whilst there are a number of sources of maritime security law, the primary source today is the International Maritime Organization. At present it is the major institutionalised source of maritime security rules. Indeed, it has become, in the post 9/l 1 New York years, the major forum for the promulgation of international maritime rules regulating maritime security. Whilst the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is concerned with maritime security law, given its date, the Convention has had problems coping with contemporary maritime security threats such as terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, the Convention also fails to adequately deal with certain maritime security threats that have come to the forefront in the last 30 years, such as crimes against the safety of navigation. It is submitted that, fortunately the 1982 Convention's inadequacy and, at times, lacunae, have been addressed by the work of the International Maritime Organization. This study proposes to examine the Organization's contribution to this important branch of the law of the sea. Part II will provide an overview of the International Maritime Organization's constitution and work. In particular it will analyse the role of the Organization's governing bodies and its committees, particularly the work of the Legal Committee and Maritime Safety Committee. Reference will also be made to the machinery of the International Maritime Organization with respect to promulgating legal instruments. This Part will conclude with a review of the International Maritime Organization's mandate particularly in the field of maritime safety and security. In Part ID, the study will review the International Maritime Organization's efforts in the field of maritime security law. It will commence with an examination of a contemporary definition of maritime security and will then focus on the Organization's response to maritime security in the post Achille Lauro period, particularly the adoption of the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and its Protocol. This Part of the study will also examine the International Maritime Organization's work in the post September 1 l period, in particular its work as reflected in the Protocols of 2005 to the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Navigation and its Protocol and the introduction of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code. Part IV will discuss how non-International Maritime Organization treaties, in particular the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, deal with maritime security issues. The position under customary international law will also be examined. The International Maritime Organization's initiatives to counter a major maritime security threat, piracy and armed robbery against ships, will be the focus of Part V. This specific crime was chosen because it reflects a grave threat to life at sea. In this respect, this article will examine both the International Maritime Organization's legislative instruments and initiatives taken on a regional and international basis. In the case of the former, reference will be made to those efforts in Southeast Asia and off the shores of Somalia. In the case of the latter, reference will be made to the International Maritime Organization's resort to the United Nations Security Council. Finally, Part VI will present a summary of the International Maritime Organization's main contribution to international law regulating maritime security and any conc1usions derived from the analysis made in the previous parts of the study.