Maritime piracy operations: Some legal issues

Abstract

The international legal regime pertaining to maritime piracy has developed and grown over the years. These changes were prompted due to lacunas in the legal system, which surfaced when the codified laws were implemented. The problem of maritime piracy flares up every few years, especially with the modernization of boats and weapons. Dealing with maritime piracy involves coordinated and orchestrated efforts at different levels including, domestic, regional and international. Anti-maritime piracy operations have been very successful in controlling and reducing piratical activities, for example, attacks on merchant vessels off the Somalian coast have considerably reduced. Given the success of such anti-maritime piracy operations, it becomes imperative to underscore some legal issues that may stand out and flag the gaps in the international maritime piracy legal regime. Identifying such legal issues will help the future lawmakers in deciding if such issues need resolution, and does it require further development or amendment of the current maritime piracy legal regime.

Discovering maritime-piracy hotspots: a study based on AHP and spatio-temporal analysis

“…Another study applied a Fuzzy AHP and found that international convention and policy, defense strategies when sailing, hardware and software, security plan, response ability, and communication facilities are the main elements that need to be considered to minimize piracy attacks (Tseng et al, 2021 ). Studies also suggested that anti-piracy operations, regulations and policies as well as coordination at domestic, regional, and international level enable the minimization and control of piratical activities (Ahmad, 2020 ). The presence of naval bases is crucial in supporting maritime forces combat piracy (Danzell et al, 2023 ).…”

On the Path of Piracy Legal Regulation from the Degree of Pirate Legal Interest Infringement: The Statistical Research Method as an Approach to Intervention

“…In the legal regulation and measures of piracy, for example, some scholars have studied the reasons why Indonesia does not join the Asian regional cooperation agreement on combating piracy and armed robbery against ships [9]; some scholars hold the belief that countries should revise their domestic definition of piracy [10]; exploring the definition of piracy in the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea [11], sorting out the evolution of the concept of piracy [4], analyzing and describing the judgment of piracy cases of a certain county [12], outlining the different initiatives taken by the international community to combat piracy in Somalia [13]. Some scholars point out that insufficient international laws to solve the problem of territorial piracy, coupled with the lack of effective law enforcement in the special political, social, and economic conditions in some countries, resulting in a surge in piracy in their territorial waters [14]; some scholars have explored the purposes of piracy crime [15,16]; some scholars have also explored the legislative model of piracy [17], etc.…”

“…I would like to express my gratitude to the International Maritime Administration for providing pirate data for this article in recent ten years, which led to the conception and writing of this article. 10 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing…”

UNCLOS Definition of Piracy: Is it still Relevant for Modern Piracy?

“…The International Law Commission (ILC) clarified that animo furandi is not essential, as piracy may be perpetrated out of anger or vengeance. 32 Private ends are distinguished from political motives. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between private and politically motivated objectives.…”