Law of the Sea Commons^™

Sabotage Of Submarine Cables And Pipelines As A Use Of Force And Armed Attack, Christian Schaller

International Law Studies

Combating sabotage of submarine cables and pipelines is a matter of law enforcement, subject to the international law of the sea. However, such acts may also constitute the use of force and an armed attack under Articles 2(4) and 51 of the UN Charter. The application of these concepts requires clarification of the “international relations” in which the use of force takes place and identification of the State against which the armed attack occurs. This article argues that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the sabotage may be presumed to be directed against the States connected to the …

Rudderless And Adrift: States’ Unwarranted Timidity Respecting Stateless Vessels, Andrew Norris

International Law Studies

This article argues that there is no international legal impediment to any State robustly asserting prescriptive, enforcement, or adjudicative jurisdiction over vessels without nationality. It first examines the rules relating to vessel nationality to demonstrate the strong international preference that vessels be properly flagged in a particular State. It then examines the phenomenon of vessels without nationality, with a focus on what constitutes statelessness, and what the contemporary understanding is of the jurisdictional effect of that status. It concludes with a legal analysis, based on the Lotus principle and a recent U.S. appellate court decision that relied upon it, of …

Options For Sustainable High Seas Fisheries Management In The Southwest Atlantic, Cornell Overfield, Jessica Yllemo

International Law Studies

The Southwest Atlantic lacks a regional fishery management organization, leaving one of the world’s largest squid fisheries at risk of overfishing during high seas migrations. This article reviews measures available to coastal States as they seek to protect regional ecosystems and their economic interests. The ideal policy response is to conclude a regional fisheries management organization covering squid and other key regional stocks. This body should follow best practices and include the relevant coastal and fishing States. Other options that provide some value for managing regional fishing and its environmental consequences include reviving and expanding catch information sharing, ratifying and …

Of Duty And Distress: Addressing Sea Slavery Through The Duty To Render Assistance, Austin Fullmer

International Law Studies

Sea slavery—men trapped in forced labor on board illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels—exists across the world’s oceans. If confronted with sea slavery while conducting a boarding of a foreign-flagged IUU fishing vessel on the high seas, may a coastal State military officer free the victim? This article answers the question affirmatively, relying on the duty to render assistance under the international law of the sea. That duty requires all mariners who receive information that a person is in distress to proceed with all speed to assist the person in distress. In order to meet the definition of “distress,” …

Maritime Incidents In The South China Sea: Measures Of Law Enforcement Or Use Of Force?, Aurel Sari

International Law Studies

China has sought to extend its control over the South China Sea at the expense of neighboring countries. In pursuing its goals, Beijing adopts a “power and law” approach, claiming extensive territorial and maritime rights in contravention of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and asserting these rights through coercive action in disputed waters. A key element of China’s strategy involves the use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels in an effort to portray its operations as measures of law enforcement, rather than displays of coercive power.

This article argues that the Chinese narrative of law …

Law Enforcement Measures Against Chinese Maritime Militia, Kentaro Furuya

International Law Studies

This article undertakes a comprehensive legal assessment of Chinese maritime militia vessels and their operations, employing a law enforcement perspective as the analytical lens. During peacetime, those vessels engage in fishing and low-intensity military activities but during armed conflict they transition to tasks like reconnaissance. Notably, these maritime militias are frequently deployed in what is commonly termed as "gray zone" scenarios, which lack a clearly defined designation as either peacetime or armed conflict. Their principal objective lies in asserting territorial claims without resorting to full-scale armed conflict. This article delves into an exploration of the legal status accorded to these …

Anatomy Of China’S Maritime Strategy: Threatening The Maritime Order Through Its National Legislation And Self-Centered Interpretation Of Unclos, Shigeki Sakamoto

International Law Studies

While the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes an objective framework for the coordinated handling of the use of the sea by States in the exercise of their legislative, judicial, and executive powers, China’s legislative bodies, in enacting domestic laws for the fulfillment of treaty obligations, distort obligations in its domestic laws to secure their own national interests. For example, Article 6.2 of China’s Territorial Sea Law violates articles of UNCLOS by denying the right of innocent passage. In addition, China is extending its jurisdiction over security to the contiguous zone with Article 13 …

“Nationals” At Forty: From An Undefined Unclos Term To Due Diligence Obligations On The State Of Nationality To Combat Iuu Fishing, Arron N. Honniball, Valentin J. Schatz

International Law Studies

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing represents a global common concern, incorporating large-scale and highly mobile environmental, economic, and sometimes criminal, concerns. IUU fishing can result in dysfunctional fisheries governance, including through the non-application of relevant conservation and management measures. Non-application results, in part, from both incomplete implementation and insufficient enforcement by flag, coastal, port, and market States, and the States of nationality. This article focuses on the State of nationality that may exercise territorial and extraterritorial prescriptive jurisdiction on the basis of the active personality principle of jurisdiction. Firstly, global instruments have long held the State of nationality as …

Malware, A Device Under The 1988 Sua Convention, Michael Petta

International Law Studies

In 1988 the International Maritime Organization modernized international law in response to a vexing problem of the time—maritime terrorism. Before then, not all violent crimes against vessels amounted to piracy and therefore many maritime criminals escaped justice. To close this gap and facilitate the prosecution of those who endanger navigation, IMO member States enacted the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation. More than three decades later, the 1988 SUA Convention may be useful to address a more modern problem—cyberattacks against commercial vessels. The 1988 treaty prohibits various acts against shipping, including the …

Enhancing The Security Of Shipping In Southeast Asia: The Relevance Of International Law, Robert Beckman

International Law Studies

This article outlines the principles of international law governing the right to exercise jurisdiction over ships. It then explains the relevance of UN international crimes conventions to the security of commercial ships. These conventions give States parties jurisdiction to arrest persons present in their territory who are alleged to have committed such crimes and an obligation to either prosecute or extradite them. It then explains the measures that have been taken by the International Maritime Organization to enhance the security of commercial shipping, including its Code of Practice on preventing piracy and “armed robbery against ships” and its measures to …

Maritime Counter-Narcotics Agreements, Office Of The Staff Judge Advocate

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

China’S Iuu Fishing Fleet: Pariah Of The World’S Oceans, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

The leading global maritime security threat today is illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Left unchecked, IUU fishing exacerbates the depletion of fish stocks, thereby contributing to global geo-political instability by increasing tension among competing distant water fishing fleets, threatening the sustainability of coastal States’ fisheries, and damaging fragile ecosystems. This article reviews the regulatory framework applicable to IUU fishing. It then discusses China’s predatory fishing practices in various regions of the world. The article then examines the principle of exclusive flag State jurisdiction on the high seas and suggests that Chinese distant water fishing vessels that change their name …

China’S Revised Maritime Traffic Safety Law, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

China recently enacted amendments to its 1983 Maritime Traffic Safety Law, expanding its application from “coastal waters” to “sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China,” a term that is intentionally vague and not defined. Many of the amendments to the law exceed international law limits on coastal State jurisdiction that would illegally restrict freedom of navigation in the South China, East China, and Yellow Seas where China is embroiled in a number of disputed territorial and maritime claims with its neighbors. The provisions regarding the unilateral application of routing and reporting systems beyond the territorial sea …

Maritime Police Law Of The People’S Republic Of China, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

China’s new Maritime Police Law (MPL) purports to regulate the duties of China’s maritime police agencies, including the China Coast Guard, and safeguard China’s sovereignty, security, and rights and interest. The MPL has potentially far-reaching application, as China claims extensive maritime areas off its mainland and in the South China Sea. This expansive application of maritime law enforcement jurisdiction is problematic given that most of China’s maritime claims are inconsistent with international law. To the extent that the MPL purports to assert jurisdiction over foreign flagged vessels in disputed areas or on the high seas, it contravenes international law. Numerous …

Iuu Fishing As A National Security Threat: Revisiting India’S Domestic Framework And Compliance With International Regimes, Pooja Bhatt

International Law Studies

Within India, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing typically has been viewed as a non-traditional security concern that includes food and economic security, as well as broader societal and political issues. This article argues for understanding IUU fishing in a broader and deeper way and to view this issue as a traditional security threat. Several developments merit this approach, including the threat posed by foreign fishing vessels near Indian waters. Such distant water fishing vessels have been found fishing illegally around the world. On several occasions, these vessels are present near the exclusive economic zone of other states, raising serious …

China’S Maritime Law Enforcement Activities In The South China Sea, Diane Desierto

International Law Studies

This article evaluates China’s public justifications for its unilateral maritime law enforcement activities in the South China Sea, including recent incidents affecting Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia, against the binding international legal requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties to the South China Sea, and the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration UNCLOS Annex VII arbitral award In the Matter of the South China Sea Arbitration. China’s unilateral maritime law enforcement activities in the South China Sea do not comply with UNCLOS and applicable international …

The Peacetime Right Of Approach And Visit And Effective Security Council Sanctions Enforcement At Sea, Craig H. Allen

International Law Studies

Naval forces deployed across the world’s seas to enforce counterproliferation sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council must surmount any number of operational and legal challenges. High seas boardings by any State other than the vessel’s flag State remain controversial. The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention’s high seas articles carefully balance the principles of freedom of navigation and exclusive flag-State jurisdiction with the shared interest in ensuring effective enforcement of laws against certain serious offenses. The peacetime right of visit is a limited but invaluable compromise between those competing interests. Some commentators have suggested expanding the right to address …

Maritime Autonomous Vehicles Within The International Law Framework To Enhance Maritime Security, Natalie Klein

International Law Studies

Technological developments necessitate a review of long-standing and diverse international legal principles. The law of the sea is no exception in this regard where the introduction of different Maritime Autonomous Vehicles (MAVs) has prompted consideration of how the laws of naval warfare and rules governing the safety of international shipping accommodate these craft. This paper shifts the focus to the international laws relating to maritime security. It assesses how well the existing international legal framework for maritime security can account for the use of MAVs by law enforcement agencies and by non-state actors who are turning to MAVs for criminal …

Maritime Law Enforcement Operations And Intelligence In An Age Of Maritime Security, Douglas Guilfoyle

International Law Studies

This article examines maritime law enforcement operations and intelligence activities in the context of maritime security. First describing the role of navies and coast guards in maritime security, this article then explores the relationship between law enforcement operations and actionable intelligence. In particular, it focuses on maritime domain awareness (MDA), and how MDA functions as a form of intelligence. Next, the article discusses maritime domain awareness under international law before looking to the tension between intelligence collection and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations, both on the high seas and in waters under national jurisdiction. The article closes by …

The Russian Federation And The Arctic Sunrise Case: Hot Pursuit And Other Issues Under The Losc, Alex G. Oude Elferink

International Law Studies

The Arctic Sunrise case was brought unilaterally by the Netherlands against the Russian Federation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on October 4, 2013 after the Russian Federation had boarded the vessel and arrested it and its crew. The article discusses the subsequent arbitral proceedings and in particular assesses the reasoning of the arbitral tribunal on the issue of hot pursuit. It concludes that the tribunal’s findings are controversial in several respects. Although the Russian Federation did not participate in the arbitration, it did issue a number of official statements and documents. The article provides …

The Bull In The China Shop: Raising Tensions In The Asia-Pacific Region, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

This paper examines the legality of China's recent endeavors to change the status quo in the Asia-Pacific region, specifically with respect to the announcement of an ADIZ over the East China Sea. The piece concludes with recommendations for potential U.S. responses.

Arctic Climate Change And U.S. Accession To The United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Encroachment On Navigational Freedoms, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

China And The Law Of The Sea: An Update, Guifang Xue

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The 1982 United Nations Convention Of The Law Of The Sea: A Historical Perspective On Prospects For Us Accession, Horace B. Robertson Jr.

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Unvarnished Truth: The Debate On The Law Of The Sea Convention, William L. Schachte Jr.

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Conflicts Between United Nations Security Council Resolutions And The 1982 United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea, And Their Possible Resolution, Robin R. Churchill

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Maritime Domain Awareness: The Key To Maritime Security, Joseph L. Nimmich, Dana A. Goward

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Global Commons And The Role For Intelligence, Lowell E. Jacoby

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Threats From The Global Commons: Problems Of Jurisdiction And Enforcement, Stuart Kaye

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.