K.A. Bekiashev. International Law Fighting Piracy

Abstract: Piracy is an international delict of a penal character. Its features are enumerated in Article 101 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Piracy is an illegal act of violence, detention or depredation, committed by a private ship of any state in high seas or in another territory, which does not fall under the jurisdiction of a state. If an act of piracy is committed in the territorial sea then such an illegal act is viewed as armed sea robbery by modern international law and is punished in accordance with the 1988/2005 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation. At present piracy is rampant along the Somalian coast, in the Gulf of Aden, in the northeastern part of Africa, in the Strait of Malacca. The article gives examples of piracy actions in these waters and assesses them from the point of view of modern international law. The article contains the analysis of the General Assembly and the Security Council resolutions upon the issues raised and describe the activities of the IMO and other organizations. In the author’s opinion, the elaboration of legal anti-pirate norms and regulations should proceed in five principal directions: elaborating a convention for the suppression of piracy at sea, amending Articles 100-107 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, implementing the suggestions of establishing an international tribunal, adopting regional conventions, improving national legislation. As shown by the practice, one cannot threaten pirates and sea robbers just by patrolling the caravans of commercial and fishing vessels. What is needed is effective international legal norms and adequate actions on their basis.

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