Enhancing international efforts to prosecute suspected pirates.

AuthorLandsidle, Jennifer
PositionInternational Law in Crisis
  1. INTRODUCTION: THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S APPROACH II. SUCCESSES TO DATE AND PERSISTENT CHALLENGES III. LOOKING AHEAD: STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING EFFORTS TO PROSECUTE SUSPECTED PIRATES IV. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION: THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S APPROACH

    Since the initial conception of the U.S. strategy to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, the United States has recognized that any effective counter-piracy strategy must include a plan to ensure that individuals who commit acts of piracy will be held accountable for their actions. (1) The United States has sought to accomplish this by: (1) advocating for all States to criminalize piracy under their domestic law and for States Parties to implement their relevant obligations under the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA Convention) and other applicable international conventions; (2) (2) urging States to use these laws to prosecute suspects when they are directly victimized by a pirate attack, e.g., the flag State or State of nationality of the crew or owner of the vessel;(3) (3) seeking to conclude arrangements or agreements with regional States and common victim States outside the region in order to facilitate the transfer of suspected pirates for prosecution in their national courts; (4) and (4) working with the international community to enhance the capacity of these States to prosecute suspected pirates and imprison those convicted. (5)

    Successful implementation of this strategy has always been dependent on the support of the international community. The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (Contact Group), an ad-hoc international mechanism of more than fifty participating countries and international organizations established in January 2009 to coordinate the international response to piracy off the coast Somalia, has provided the primary forum for coordination of the international community's counter-piracy strategy. (6) Legal issues related to the prosecution and imprisonment of pirates have been addressed primarily by the Legal Working Group of the Contact Group, or Working Group 2, chaired by Denmark. (7) The Legal Working Group brings together Contact Group participants' legal experts in order to develop practical legal guidance for States wrestling with the challenges associated with apprehending, transferring, and prosecuting suspected pirates. (8) The Legal Working Group also provides a forum for the exchange of information and lessons learned by States through their experiences; (9) every Working Group meeting begins with a tour-de-table for States to update the group on any changes to domestic piracy-related legislation, national prosecutions, or other relevant developments. Finally, the Legal Working Group has provided a forum for a robust discussion among States about whether some prosecution mechanism, beyond national prosecutions, would enhance the international community's ability to deliver judicial consequences for piracy, or what other creative solutions might be brought to bear to address this challenge.

  2. SUCCESSES TO DATE AND PERSISTENT CHALLENGES

    At present, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), over one thousand Somali pirates in twenty States around the world are either on trial for, or have been convicted of, acts of piracy. (10) Among these, twenty-eight suspected pirates have been transferred back to the United States to stand trial for attacks on U.S. vessels, nationals or interests. (11) These national prosecutions demonstrate that, just as piracy has been successfully prosecuted in national courts for hundreds of years, modern Somali piracy can be successfully prosecuted in ordinary national courts by any willing State with the basic judicial capacity to do so.

    At the same time, despite the sheer number of prosecutions worldwide, there is little evidence that these prosecutions are having an effective deterrent effect. (12) In addition, the international community continues to face a number of challenges that hinder the ability of States to bring...

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