Maritime Piracy off the Coast of Somalia: Effectiveness of the Control Measures and Challenges Facing Prosecution

Abstract

Maritime piracy is an old concept, the history of which can be traced far way back since the time when the human being started using sea as a means of transport. Its criminality was firstly been considered by the customary international law even before codification of the same in 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and later the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Somali piracy emerged in the 1990s, its narrative root causes, impact brought by it and the uniqueness of how it has been combated have moved the author to write this paper. The control measures of piracy off the coast of Somalia is comprised of International and local measures. The engagement of naval forces, combined task forces 150 and 151 and local reforms and pre-emptive measures and construction of a new naval base have contributed to the elimination of piracy activities off the coast of Somalia. This paper focused on whether these control measures are effective; the paper goes further on pointing out challenges facing prosecution. More over, the definition of maritime piracy, narrative root causes of piracy off the coast of Somalia, the impact brought by piracy off the coast of Somalia, the legal aspect of maritime piracy and its enforcement by the international community and lastly, conclusion and recommendations are the areas covered by this paper.