Efthymios Papastavridis. The Interception of Vessels on the High Seas, Contemporary Challenges to the Legal Order of the Oceans

Abstract

Many are the threats that challenge the security of the oceans today. Piracy, which was thought to be relegated to history and adventure books (and films), has re-appeared and threatens human lives but also, cynically more importantly for states, the safe transport of goods. The seas provide the main route for trade in goods worldwide. Their security is an imperative for a globalized economy. In the 2008 Report on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, the UN Secretary General identified seven specific threats to maritime security: (1) piracy and armed robbery; (2) terrorist acts against shipping, offshore installations, and other maritime interests; (3) illicit trafficking in arms and weapons of mass destruction (WMD); (4) illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; (5) smuggling and trafficking of persons at sea; (6) illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and (7) international and unlawful damage to the marine environment. The law of the sea, and in particular the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS),2 does not specifically deal with maritime security. It nevertheless provides for some instruments in order to manage and counter those threats on the high seas and to limit the otherwise guaranteed freedom of navigation. In particular the right of visit (Article 110 UNCLOS)3 is the core legal basis for any enforcement activity performed, unilaterally or multilaterally, on the high seas. The right to visit is the legal basis for any interception of vessels on the high seas or interdiction programme. It consists of an exception to the exclusive jurisdiction of the flag state on the high seas (Article 92 UNCLOS) and the related principle of non-interference. The analytical study of interceptions of vessels on the high seas, performed for preventing or repressing the above-mentioned threats, is the object of the book under review