Law Commons^™

The Somali Piracy Problem: A Global Puzzle Necessitating A Global Solution, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past few years, piracy has exploded off the coast of Somalia. Somali pirates congregate on a "mother ship" and then divide into smaller groups that sail out on tiny skiffs. Using potent weapons such as AK-47s and hand-propelled grenades, Somali pirates attack civilian ships carrying cargo through the Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Yemen and Somalia. Once they have overtaken the victim vessel, the pirates typically hijack the vessel's cargo and kidnap the crewmembers. The cargo is often resold to willing buyers or held for ransom. The crew are kept hostage in Somalia until either …

China's Maritime Strategic Agenda, Christopher Rahman

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

Just what’s China up to at sea? To casual observers, including a burgeoning legion of journalists, commentators and bloggers, China seems set on a path to becoming a major force on the world’s oceans, developing bluewater naval power with which to protect the Chinese state’s expanding economic ties to far-flung corners of the world and project political and even strategic influence. Such observers rightly note the rapid growth in China’s international seaborne trade, its shipping and shipbuilding sectors, and its marine economy and maritime interests in general. China’s naval developments over the past decade have been widely commented on, especially …

Regional Maritime Security: Threats And Risk Assessments, Sam Bateman

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

Regional maritime security: The maritime security of Southeast Asia reflects a range of enduring and dynamic factors. Enduring factors are mainly the geography of the region with its complex pattern of archipelagos, islands, bays and gulfs and narrow shipping channels; its heavy dependence on shipping for both domestic and intra-regional trade; and the importance of regional seas and their resources to the well-being of regional peoples. The dynamic factors include sovereignty disputes, the increasing levels and density of shipping traffic in the region, increased exploitation of marine resources, deteriorating fish stocks and marine habitats, growing naval budgets and higher levels …

Imaginary Islands?: Options To Preserve Maritime Jurisdictional Entitlements And Provide Stable Maritime Limits In The Face Of Coastal Instability, Clive Schofield, I Made Andi Arsana

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The inundation of a disputed island in the Bay of Bengal in March 2010 was reported as an unlooked for benefit of climate change, eliminating the object of a contentious bilateral dispute. In fact this has not proved to be the case and the incident instead highlights the vulnerability of certain low-lying coastlines and insular features to significant and rapid changes in location, whether caused by sea level rise or not. While acknowledging ongoing debates on climate change and sea level rise, the paper examines key challenges in this context, notably concerning the ambulatory nature of normal baselines and the …

The Delimitation Of Maritime Boundaries Of The Pacific Island States, Clive H. Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The Pacific island States possess limited land territory but enormous maritime entitlements. Claims to maritime jurisdiction out to 200 nautical miles offshore, and in some cases the existence of continental shelf rights extending beyond the 200 mile limit, have resulted in overlapping claims and the creation of numerous “new” international maritime boundaries. The majority of these potential maritime boundaries both among the Pacific island States and between the Pacific island States and their maritime neighbours have yet to be delimited. The paper outlines relevant claims to maritime jurisdiction including recent submissions regarding outer continental shelf limits, explores how maritime boundaries …

Confronting Maritime Crime In Southeast Asian Waters: Reexamining "Piracy" In The Twenty-First Century, Sam Bateman

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

[extract] There is nothing new about maritime crime in Southeast Asia. It has a long history, and the maritime criminals of today are mainly descendants of the marauders, pirates, and bandits of yesteryear. However, changes to the extent and nature of maritime crime have occurred over the years. The decline in fish stocks and loss of access to traditional fishing grounds, along with general economic problems, have led to unemployment and loss of income in coastal villages throughout the region. This has, in turn, forced some villagers to turn to piracy, sea robbery, and other forms of maritime crime. However, …

An Empirical Examination Of Universal Jurisdiction For Piracy, Eugene Kontorovich, Steven Art

Faculty Working Papers

This Essay presents the first systematic empirical study of the incidence of universal jurisdiction prosecutions over an international crime. Using data on the number of piracies committed in a twelve year period (1998-2009) obtained from international agencies and maritime industry groups, we determine the percentage of acts of piracy where nations prosecuted under universal jurisdiction we determine the percentage of these cases where nations exercised UJ. Studies of the worldwide use of UJ over other crimes simply count how often UJ has been exercised, but do not attempt to determine the rate of prosecution.

We find that of all clearly …