Details
- The first monograph to specifically and comprehesively deal with the legal regime pertaining to piracy underway in Somalia and the Gulf of Aden
- Provides a sophisticated legal analysis of the complexities surrounding the counter-piracy operations in the region
- Details the evolution of the international law relating to piracy and armed robbery at sea, placing the current operations in context
Since 2008 increasing pirate activities in Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean have once again drawn the international community's attention to piracy and armed robbery at sea. States are resolved to repress these impediments to the free flow of trade and navigation. To this end a number of multinational counter-piracy missions have been deployed to the region.
This book describes the enforcement powers that States may rely upon in their quest to repress piracy in the larger Gulf of Aden region. The piracy rules of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the legal safeguards applicable to maritime interception operations are scrutinized before the analysis turns to the criminal prosecution of pirates and armed robbers at sea. The discussion includes so-called shiprider agreements, the transfers of alleged offenders to regional states, the jurisdictional bases for prosecuting pirates, and the feasibility of an international(ized) venue for their trial. In addressing a range of relevant issues, this book presents a detailed and comprehensive up-to-date analysis of the legal issues pertaining to the repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea and assesses whether the currently existing legal regime is still adequate to effectively counter piracy in the 21st century.
Readership: Scholars of the law of the seas, international criminal and humanitarian law, the use of force, and International Relations. Post-graduate students, practitioners and policymakers, government legal advisors, military legal advisors, and NGOs; International Human Rights lawyers.
IntroductionPart I: Current Efforts to Counter Piracy in Somalia and the Gulf of Adeni: Piracy in the Gulf of Adenii: Efforts to Counter Piracy in the Gulf of Adeniii: ConclusionPart II: Historic Evolution of Legal Rules Relating to Piracyi: Codification of Piracy Rules in the 20th Centuryii: Counter-Terrorism Rules Relevant for Violence against Ships and Persons on Boardiii: Regional Instrumentsiv: ConclusionPart III: Counter-Piracy Enforcement Powers and their Legal Constraintsi: Scope of Counter-Piracy Enforcement Powersii: Shiprider Agreementsiii: Legal Constraints on Counter-Piracy Enforcement PowersPart IV: The Criminal Prosecution of Pirates and Armed Robbers at Seai: Adjucative Jurisdiction over Pirates and Armed Robbers at Seaii: Possible Venues for the Criminal Prosecution of Piracy Suspectsiii: Transfers of Piracy Suspectsiv: Right to Libertyv: Conclusion;
Robin Geiss, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Potsdam, Germany, and Anna Petrig, Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany
Robin Geiss is Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Potsdam, Germany. Formerly he worked as a legal adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva
Anna Petrig, is a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg (Germany), where she is in charge of the Sea Piracy Project. She is admitted to the Bar of New York (USA) and of the Canton of Berne (Switzerland).
"This book shines a powerful light on that regime and describes the plethora of conventions, agreements, United Nations resolutions, juridictional rules, and legal principles that apply to different aspects of anti-piracy operations...This book is a welcome contribution to the discussion of what is becoming a very troublesome and very urgent problem which the world can only ignore at its peril" - The Commonwealth Lawyer
"...an excellent primer for anybody who wishes to learn the subject...fully of excellent analysis,,,covers material that is essential for an understanding and background of Somali piracy." - The Journal of International Maritime Law.
