Developing the concept of maritime piracy: a comparative legal analysis of international law and domestic criminal legislation
Van Hespen, I. (2016). Developing the concept of maritime piracy: a comparative legal analysis of international law and domestic criminal legislation. Int. J. Mar. Coast. Law 31(2): 279-314. https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15718085-12341395
In: International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law. Kluwer Law International: The Hague; Gaithersburg; London; Boston. ISSN 0927-3522; e-ISSN 1571-8085
piracy – maritime security – maritime terrorism – universal jurisdiction – Law of the Sea Convention – Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation – human trafficking – migrant smuggling
This article deals with the problem of combating international crime related to violence at sea. The question addressed is whether, according to public international law, all violent acts in the maritime domain, such as maritime piracy, drug trafficking, human trafficking and maritime terrorism, can be combined into one legal concept. In order to answer this question, this article takes the traditional notion of “piracy” in the sense used in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and explores the possibility of the notion being extended to encompass the other forms of crime to a concept of “universal maritime crime”. Jurisdictional issues, the difficulties of incorporating the resulting concept into domestic criminal legislation and challenges related to the prosecution of alleged criminals, such as due process and human rights issues, are also considered.
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