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.
Eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism includes acts sometimes referred to as 'eco-piracy' or 'maritime vigilantism.' These acts refer to violant acts at sea, but are neither 'piratical' (private reasons) nor 'terrorist' (political motive) in nature, such as ramming ships for ecological reasons.
Publication Ilja Van Hespen Maritime Review Neptunus : ‘la sécurité maritime: les défis actuels’
The security of the maritime domain has become a topical area of concern, with threats thereto manifesting in multiple ways, ranging from military activities at sea to marine litter discharges and noise pollution. As an issue of common interest of the international community, maritime security has ignited some commendable initiatives both internationally and regionally, aimed at setting up new legal and institutional frameworks of cooperation. However, current regimes have proved to be ill-suited to address the globalized maritime challenges of today. It is thus still necessary to merge the priorities of the various stakeholders into a comprehensive maritime security architecture. This article purports to illustrate this state of affairs through a brief analysis of major themes related to maritime security. For its purposes, the analysis in this article is intended to highlight current challenges and issues that should be taken into account by policymakers in the maritime domain.
Maritime security: current challenges
The security of the maritime domain has become a topical area of concern, with threats thereto manifesting in multiple ways, ranging from military activities at sea to marine litter discharges and noise pollution. As an issue of common interest of the international community, maritime security has ignited some commendable initiatives both internationally and regionally, aimed at setting up new legal and institutional frameworks of cooperation.
However, current regimes have proved to be ill-suited to address the globalized maritime challenges of today. By and large, a sustained common vision on how to better serve the common interest is currently lacking, owing in part to an intricate North-South divide over both rights and obligations regarding ocean governance. It is thus still necessary to merge the priorities of the various stakeholders into a comprehensive maritime security architecture.
This policy brief purports to illustrate this state of affairs through a brief analysis of major themes related to maritime security. Rather than addressing issues of entitlement to ocean space and use, the present paper concentrates on the question of how to conceive a responsible use of the maritime domain. For its purposes, the analysis in this paper is of course more illustrative than comprehensive and is intended to highlight current challenges and issues that should be taken into account by policymakers in the regulation of emerging seas uses.