On the Evolution of the Law of International Sea Piracy: How Property Trumped Human Rights, the Environment and the Sovereign Rights of States in the Areas of the Creation and Enforcement of Jurisdiction

Abstract

The aforementioned article, which set forth Admiral Mullen's comment, went on to say that as of that day, there had been 95 acts of piracy committed in the Gulf of Aden and the surrounding waters,39 captured vessels, and 330 sailors from 25 nations who still remain hostage. Definitions 'Piracy' as defined in both the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and UNCLOS were the same crime committed on high seas, as follows: Article 101 Definition of piracy; Piracy consists of any of the following acts: any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State; any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate-ship or aircraft; any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b). Of course, from the shipping industry's point of view, these attacks are criminal; seventeen of the incidents were against tankers, seven on supply ships and the remaining on bulk carriers, general cargo ships and container ships. The Security Council Resolutions that have been mentioned couched the intrusion into territorial, internal waters and land, by expressing concern for human rights so that food shipments would not be blockaded and hijacked by Somali pirates. There is no question that the United States, Denmark, and most of the other nations involved believed that it was necessary to obtain a Security Council Resolution(s) in order to pursue pirates into the territorial, internal waters and on the territory of Somalia.

Keywords: UNCLOS, piracy

JEL Classification: K33