Crime on the high seas : an international law perspective

Abstract

Chapter one will discuss the high seas and its legal character, with a special focus on the concept of the freedom of the high seas from its inception to the modern day. The nature of the jurisdiction exercised over the high seas will also be treated. This chapter comes to a close with an examination of the exceptions to the exclusivity of flag State jurisdiction over vessels sailing on the high seas. Chapter two will analyse the interference of non national ships on the high seas, concentrating especially on the right of reconnaissance and the droite de visite and the elements which must be present for their exercise. The discussion in Chapter three examines in detail the crimes of piracy and maritime terrorism in international law. The work by Jason Azzopardi entitled The Rome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation: An Analysis1 has been consulted and the treatment of the subject matter in chapter three of this thesis will overlap with parts of chapter one and two of Azzopardi's work. This has been done for completeness sake since any work on crime on the high seas must essentially delve into the origin and nature of the crime of piracy and maritime terrorism for it to be complete. The analysis. will examine various definitions of piracy through the years and will highlight the differences between piracy under municipal and customary international law and the subsequent process of codification of the law of piracy from the Harvard Research Draft to the Law of the Sea Convention. Maritime terrorism will be analysed with piracy in the background, including the latest amendments to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation. This chapter comes to a close with an examination of possible solutions to combat piracy. Drug Trafficking on the high seas dominates the discussion in Chapter four. The development of the piecemeal codification process up to the modern day will be discussed, leading up to modern multilateral conventions. Other forms of arrangements between States, such asship rider agreements, and their consequences will be discussed, as well as the issue whether drug trafficking on the high seas should be subject to universal jurisdiction like piracy. Chapter five will analyse the right of hot pursuit and the manner in which it helps the coastal State assert its jurisdiction over non-national ships on the high seas. The doctrine of constructive presence will also be discussed in the ambit of the right of hot pursuit. Chapter six will discuss unauthorised broadcasting from the high seas, particularly its inception in the 1960s and the instruments which States have devised to combat it. The discussion in Chapter seven will focus on offences against submarine cables and pipelines on the high seas, examining the development of international conventions in the light of the technological progress made in the late 19th century to the modern day.