| CODE | INL5013 | ||||||||
| TITLE | The Human Element of Maritime Crime: Migrant Smuggling, Human Trafficking and Stowaways | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | International Law | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit focuses on the human dimension of three major maritime crimes: migrant smuggling, human trafficking and stowaways. It addresses the main features of said threats and identifies common features and differences between these crimes. It then examines the international rules relevant to the repression of maritime threats with a human element. Aside from the enforcement aspect, considerations of human rights and refugee law, together with the duty to rescue those in distress at sea, all come to the fore and must be considered in any comprehensive and effective means to combat the crimes. The study-unit emphasizes the importance of cooperation as pivotal to the regulatory process fighting migrant smuggling, human trafficking and stowaways. In this respect, it addresses the work of various international and regional organizations (for example, the International Maritime Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the European Union) in this field. The study-unit also assesses the significance of selected decisions of international courts and bodies (for example, the European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee) and their impact on the conduct of maritime law enforcement operations. Study-unit Aims: To provide the student with an up-to-date picture of the current maritime security regime as relates to the suppression of the smuggling of migrants, trafficking in individuals and stowaways and the consequent importance of distinguishing enforcement mechanisms to combat these crimes from other maritime crimes which do not feature a human element. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Understand the nature of the maritime security threats with a human element and the legal regimes surrounding them; 2. Appreciate the interplay between legal rules and underlying exigencies and State interests; 3. Be able to give a legal evaluation of various State actions; 4. Acknowledge the importance of human rights law and refugee law when dealing with any of the maritime crimes selected for analysis in the study unit; 5. Appraise the legal regime regarding disembarkation of persons post rescue operations. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Be conversant in critical reasoning with regard to the unique nature of the maritime crimes concerning the human element; 2. Apply learned knowledge to particular fact situations occurring via the maritime domain. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Patricia Mallia, Migrant Smuggling by Sea: Combating a Current Threat to Maritime Security through the Creating of a Co-operative Framework (Martinus Nijhoff 2010) - Felicity Attard, The Shipmaster’s Duty to Render Assistance at Sea under International Law (Brill 2020) - 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) - Efthymios Papastavridis, The Interception of Vessels on the High Seas: Contemporary Challenges to the Legal Order of the Oceans’ (Hart Publishing 2013) - Anne Gallagher and Fiona David, The International Law of Migrant Smuggling (Cambridge University Press 2014) - Itamar Mann, Humanity at Sea: Maritime Migration and the Foundations of International Law (Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law 2016) - Guy S. Goodwin-Gill and Jane McAdam, The Refugee in International Law (Oxford University Press 1996) Supplementary Readings: - Douglas Guilfoyle, Shipping Interdiction and the Law of the Sea (Cambridge University Press 2009) 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) - United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo, 15 November 2000, entered into force 29 September 2000) 40 ILM (2001) 335 (CATOC) - Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo, 15 November 2000, entered into force 28 January 2004) 40 ILM 384 (Smuggling Protocol) - Protocol against Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo, 15 November 2000, entered in force 29 September 2003) 40 ILM 335 (Trafficking Protocol). |
||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Seminar & Independent Study | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||
| LECTURER/S | David J. Attard Felicity Attard Jean Pierre Gauci Patricia Vella de Fremeaux |
||||||||
|
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 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||||