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The Doctrine Of Constructive Presence And Damage To Submarine Cables And Other Critical Underwater Infrastructure, Jame Kraska, Elizabeth Hutton Dec 2025

The Doctrine Of Constructive Presence And Damage To Submarine Cables And Other Critical Underwater Infrastructure, Jame Kraska, Elizabeth Hutton

International Law Studies

Maritime law enforcement regarding attacks on critical underwater infrastructure remains one of the weakest parts of the legal system governing undersea infrastructure. While the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1884 Submarine Telegraphic Cable Convention require States to criminalize and penalize willful or negligent damage to submarine cables, these agreements depend heavily on national enforcement. In international waters, enforcement becomes more complicated due to the principle of exclusive flag State jurisdiction, which limits a coastal State’s ability to enforce laws in international waters. This article proposes that the legal doctrine of constructive presence provides an international …


Narrowing “The Gap”: Counter Gray Zone Operations, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo Aug 2024

Narrowing “The Gap”: Counter Gray Zone Operations, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

China is exploiting "The Gap" by conducting provocative Gray Zone operations to challenge its neighbors' sovereignty and sovereign rights, as well as their navigational rights and freedoms, in waters off their coast in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, and South China Sea. By engaging in malign activities that fall below the threshold of an "armed attack," China anticipates it can incrementally advance its interests without eliciting a military response from the targeted States. Diplomatic protests and third-party dispute settlement have not convinced China to halt its aggressive behavior. This article suggests States should use non-lethal counter-piracy tactics, techniques, and …


Malware, A Device Under The 1988 Sua Convention, Michael Petta Mar 2023

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 …


Intelligence Collection And The International Law Of The Sea, James Kraska Sep 2022

Intelligence Collection And The International Law Of The Sea, James Kraska

International Law Studies

This article explores the legal implications of intelligence collection operations at sea. It concludes that in terms of the international law of the sea, intelligence collection that occurs outside of the territorial sea is lawful. Furthermore, even intelligence collection by a foreign ship inside the territorial sea, while a violation of State sovereignty, may not violate the law of the sea, per se. Additionally, within the territorial sea, coastal States are limited in the measures they may take against foreign-flagged submarines and surface warships collecting intelligence since those activities do not constitute an armed attack or even the use of …


Enhancing The Security Of Shipping In Southeast Asia: The Relevance Of International Law, Robert Beckman Jun 2022

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 Security And Threat Of A Terrorist Attack, Aniruddha Rajput May 2022

Maritime Security And Threat Of A Terrorist Attack, Aniruddha Rajput

Pace International Law Review

The incidents of terrorism have multiplied and so have the routes through which the terrorists reach their targets. There is a threat of a terrorist attack from the sea route aimed at targets on the land. Until now the academic scholarship as well as treaty practice has focused on challenges of terrorism to the safety of navigation rather than terrorist threats originating from the sea. Efforts at treaty making in this direction in the past are inadequate to address the problem. This article analyses the legal framework within which response may be undertaken to neutralize a terrorist threat through preventive …


Australia’S Maritime Security Challenges: Juggling International Law And Informal Agreements In An International Rules-Based Order, Natalie Klein May 2022

Australia’S Maritime Security Challenges: Juggling International Law And Informal Agreements In An International Rules-Based Order, Natalie Klein

International Law Studies

Australia has voiced its commitment to the “rules-based order” since 2008 and the rules-based order has become a touchpoint of both Australian defense and foreign policy. Australia has also voiced its commitment to international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the South and East China Seas. References to international law have often been bundled in or left adjacent to the rules-based order and the two terms are not synonymous. This article discusses the role of international law in the rules-based order as it relates to …


Does The Revised U.S. South China Sea Policy Go Far Enough?, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo Feb 2022

Does The Revised U.S. South China Sea Policy Go Far Enough?, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

The United States issued a statement on July 13, 2020, outlining the U.S. Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea. The statement supplements existing U.S. policy for the South China Sea, making clear that the People’s Republic of China’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are unlawful. Still, the revised U.S. policy does not go far enough to contest China's faulty claims in the South China Sea. This article proposes specific issues that the revised U.S. policy should address.


China’S Revised Maritime Traffic Safety Law, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo Jun 2021

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 …


Is A South China Sea Code Of Conduct Viable?, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo Jun 2021

Is A South China Sea Code Of Conduct Viable?, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

For over twenty years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has stonewalled efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to negotiate a binding Code of Conduct that would form the basis for a peaceful and durable solution to the territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea (SCS). At the same time, the PRC engaged in a series of malign activities, to include the militarization of several reclaimed artificial islands, that have forever changed the landscape and status quo of the SCS. In 2020, the PRC unexpectedly called on ASEAN to resume the negotiations as soon as …


Ukraine V. The Russian Federation: Navigating Conflict Over Sovereignty Under Unclos, NilüFer Oral Feb 2021

Ukraine V. The Russian Federation: Navigating Conflict Over Sovereignty Under Unclos, NilüFer Oral

International Law Studies

Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, or according to Russia, its accession following a referendum, Ukraine brought several international cases against the Russian Federation, including two cases under Annex VII of UNCLOS: The Dispute Concerning Coastal State Rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Kerch Strait in 2016 and The Detention of Three Ukrainian Naval Vessels in 2019. At the center of these disputes is the conflict between Ukraine and Russia over sovereignty of Crimea. Russia contested jurisdiction in all cases invoking different exceptions under UNCLOS, including the argument that the dispute concerns sovereignty over Crimea and …


Maritime Police Law Of The People’S Republic Of China, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo Feb 2021

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 …


The Value And Viability Of The South China Sea Arbitration Ruling: The U.S. Perspective 2016–2020, Jonathan G. Odom Jan 2021

The Value And Viability Of The South China Sea Arbitration Ruling: The U.S. Perspective 2016–2020, Jonathan G. Odom

International Law Studies

In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal issued a landmark ruling addressing a number of international law issues in the South China Sea. Yet more than four years have passed since that ruling, and the South China Sea situation remains unresolved. The South China Sea arbitration ruling was a positive step in applying a rules-based approach to framing, managing and resolving some of these international disputes. Thus, the international community should reflect upon the value and viability of the arbitral tribunal’s ruling, to include viewing it from the current perspectives of individual States. This article provides a more detailed review and …


An Incident In The South China Sea, Rob Mclaughlin Nov 2020

An Incident In The South China Sea, Rob Mclaughlin

International Law Studies

This article assesses characterization issues under the law of the sea, through the medium of an International Law Studies “maritime situation.” The article begins with a hypothetical scenario concerning an incident between a NATO warship and PRC vessels near Subi Reef and Thitu Island in the South China Sea. The analysis then turns to how we might assess characterization issues under the law of the sea as they apply to this incident. The lenses of analysis employed are: (1) Where, in law of the sea terms, did the incident happen? (2) Who, employing a law of the sea characterization scheme, …


Iuu Fishing As A National Security Threat: Revisiting India’S Domestic Framework And Compliance With International Regimes, Pooja Bhatt Oct 2020

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 Aug 2020

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 …


Release Of A Detained Warship And Its Crew Through Provisional Measures: A Comparative Analysis Of The Ara Libertad And Ukraine V. Russia Cases, Yoshifumi Tanaka Aug 2020

Release Of A Detained Warship And Its Crew Through Provisional Measures: A Comparative Analysis Of The Ara Libertad And Ukraine V. Russia Cases, Yoshifumi Tanaka

International Law Studies

The determination of whether to release a detained foreign warship and its crew is a crucial issue in law and in practice. This article examines the issue of the release of a detained foreign warship and its crewmembers through provisional measures by analyzing the ARA Libertad and Ukraine v. Russia cases. Specifically three issues must be examined. The first issue concerns the interpretation of military activities under Article 298(1)(b) of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On this issue, this article highlights that a threshold for deciding the preponderance of military or law enforcement elements is …


Dprk Maritime Sanctions Enforcement, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo May 2020

Dprk Maritime Sanctions Enforcement, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 to dissuade the DPRK from continuing its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Nonetheless, the DPRK has evaded these sanctions, particularly through unlawful ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products and coal. DPRK sanctions evasion, particularly as it relates to maritime activities, remains a critical issue that allows the DRPK government to continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons and its testing and amassment of ballistic missiles. Given the DPRK’s use of maritime tactics to evade sanctions, maritime interdiction is the most effective way to counter illicit DPRK …


The Peacetime Right Of Approach And Visit And Effective Security Council Sanctions Enforcement At Sea, Craig H. Allen Nov 2019

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 …


The Occupation Of Maritime Territory Under International Humanitarian Law, Marco Longobardo Oct 2019

The Occupation Of Maritime Territory Under International Humanitarian Law, Marco Longobardo

International Law Studies

This article explores whether it is possible to apply the law of occupation beyond land territory, to maritime areas characterized here as “maritime territory.” The article argues that the definition of territory under Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations comprises internal waters, territorial sea, and archipelagic waters, whereas other areas such as the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone, and high seas fall outside the scope of Article 42. Accordingly, internal waters, the territorial sea, and archipelagic waters may be placed under occupation if a hostile force exercises actual authority over them without valid legal title. The article describes …


Marine Insurance Prohibitions In Contemporary Economic Warfare, Richard L. Kilpatrick, Jr. Sep 2019

Marine Insurance Prohibitions In Contemporary Economic Warfare, Richard L. Kilpatrick, Jr.

International Law Studies

As States and supranational actors increasingly employ economic sanctions to promote security objectives, a recent trend has focused on the regulation of commercial shipping activities. These maritime sanctions have restricted port access for designated vessels, banned the import and export of certain cargo classes, enhanced authorization for vessel inspections, and even justified vessel seizures. Critically, these techniques have also included targeted prohibitions on marine insurance covering designated vessels and cargo. Designed to frustrate sanctioned actors in their attempts to utilize maritime assets for malign purposes, marine insurance prohibitions thwart these efforts and also blunt the ability to generate revenue through …


Maritime Autonomous Vehicles Within The International Law Framework To Enhance Maritime Security, Natalie Klein Aug 2019

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 …


The Regime Of Innocent Passage In Disputed Waters, Hitoshi Nasu Nov 2018

The Regime Of Innocent Passage In Disputed Waters, Hitoshi Nasu

International Law Studies

The regime of innocent passage is a well-established body of customary international law. However, when there is a dispute over sovereign entitlement to a territorial sea or its outer limit, the applicability and legal effect of the regime are brought into question. This article considers the applicability of the regime of innocent passage and its legal effect in disputed waters by critically examining the relevant jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals that have dealt with territorial and maritime disputes. The efficacy of the findings from this analysis will then be evaluated from a legal policy perspective in the interest of …


Intelligence Gathering In The Exclusive Economic Zone, Efthymios Papastavridis Nov 2017

Intelligence Gathering In The Exclusive Economic Zone, Efthymios Papastavridis

International Law Studies

The article explores the contours of intelligence gathering in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the international law of the sea. Intelligence gathering in the maritime domain is significant for military and law enforcement purposes and for both coastal States and other States. Intelligence gathering attains even more prominence in the EEZ due to the sensitive location and importance of resources to the coastal State, while the sui generis legal nature of this zone adds further complexity to this inquiry. Indeed, the law of the sea, as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention, neither explicitly prohibits nor permits …


The Law Of The Sea Convention And Sea Level Rise After The South China Sea Arbitration, Stuart Kaye Oct 2017

The Law Of The Sea Convention And Sea Level Rise After The South China Sea Arbitration, Stuart Kaye

International Law Studies

Sea level rise from anthropogenic climate change is an increasing concern for the international community and especially for coastal States. The prospect of whole islands disappearing under rising waters raises serious questions as to the impact upon maritime jurisdiction and the ability of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to deal with the inundation of large areas of territory. The South China Sea Arbitration Tribunal recently considered these questions. Here, the Tribunal relied on a high standard for what constituted human habitability under Article 121 of the Law of the Sea Convention, which likely will have …


Maritime Law Enforcement Operations And Intelligence In An Age Of Maritime Security, Douglas Guilfoyle Jul 2017

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 …


Navigational Freedom: The Most Critical Common Heritage, John Norton Moore Jun 2017

Navigational Freedom: The Most Critical Common Heritage, John Norton Moore

International Law Studies

This keynote address was delivered at the Freedom of Navigation and the Law of the Sea workshop hosted by the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College on May 17, 2017.


The Russian Federation And The Arctic Sunrise Case: Hot Pursuit And Other Issues Under The Losc, Alex G. Oude Elferink Sep 2016

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 …


Exclusion Zones In The Law Of Armed Conflict At Sea: Evolution In Law And Practice, Sandesh Sivakumaran Apr 2016

Exclusion Zones In The Law Of Armed Conflict At Sea: Evolution In Law And Practice, Sandesh Sivakumaran

International Law Studies

This article analyses the changes in the law and practice of exclusion zones in the law of armed conflict at sea. It identifies three principal phases. First, it explores the exclusion zones of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, which were modest in size and defensive in character. Second, it turns to the exclusion zones of the First World War and several subsequent conflicts. The exclusion zones of this period were fundamentally different to those of the Russo-Japanese war: if a vessel was within an exclusion zone, it was deemed susceptible to attack. The article then turns to the third phase …


International Law And Japan’S Territorial Disputes, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo Mar 2016

International Law And Japan’S Territorial Disputes, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

Five of the most contentious territorial disputes that plague the Asia-Pacific today have their roots in the San Francisco Peace Treaty. The treaty required Japan to renounce all claims with regard to a number of lands, but failed to declare a successor State to these lands. Over the years, these disputes have intensified as a result of rising nationalism and a growing demand for ocean resources. This article discusses the merits of Japan’s claims to the Kurile Islands, Liancourt Rocks and Pinnacle Islands and concludes that Japan’s claims are superior to those of the other claimants.