Full Description
This collection of essays provides a comprehensive assessment of the legal and policy approaches to maritime counter-piracy adopted by the EU and other international actors over the last few years. As the financial cost of Somali piracy for the maritime industry and the world economy as a whole was estimated to have reached $18 billion by 2010, the phenomenon of piracy at sea has steadily grown in significance and has recently attracted the attention of international policy makers. Moreover, piracy is intrinsically linked to state failure and other pathologies bred by it, such as organised crime and terrorism.
This book adopts a holistic approach to the topic, examining approaches to piracy as these emerge in different geographical areas, as well as tackling the central issues which counter-piracy raises in terms of the most topical aspects of international law (international humanitarian law and armed conflict, piracy and terrorism, use of force). It also focuses on the approach of the EU, placing counter-piracy in its broader legal context. Providing a detailed doctrinal exploration of the issues which counter-piracy raises, it emphasises and draws upon the insights of the practice of counter-piracy by bringing together academic lawyers and the legal advisers of the main actors in the area (EU, US, NATO, UK).
The book raises fundamental questions about the law and practice of international law: are the rules of the international law of the sea on piracy still relevant? To what extent has the shared interest of international actors in tackling piracy given rise to common practices? Do the interactions among the actors examined in the book suggest fragmentation or unity of the international legal order? Is it premature to view these interactions as signalling the gradual emergence of global law in the area? This common analytical frame of reference is underlined by the concluding part, which draws these threads together.
The book will be of interest to legal scholars, political scientists and international relations theorists, as well as decision-makers and students of law, politics and international relations.
Contents
Introduction
Panos Koutrakos and Achilles Skordas
Part I: Piracy and International Norms
1 The Piracy Provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea— Fit for Purpose?
Robin Churchill
2 Piracy and Terrorism
Douglas Guilfoyle
3 Piracy and the Use of Force
Alexander Proelss
4 Counter-piracy Operations and the Limits of International Humanitarian Law
Thilo Marauhn
Part II: National, Regional and International Approaches
5 The European Union's Comprehensive Approach to Combating Piracy at Sea: Legal Aspects
Ricardo Gosalbo-Bono and Sonja Boelaert
6 Transfer Agreements for Pirates Concluded by the EU—a Case Study on the Human Rights Accountability of the Common Security and Defence Policy
Daniel Thym
7 Countering Piracy off the Coast of Somalia: A NATO Perspective
Peter M Olson
8 International Law and US Responses to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia
Gabriel Swiney
9 Piracy and the UK
Andrew Murdoch
10 Fighting Piracy—The German Perspective
Doris König and Tim René Salomon
11 Piracy and the East African Region
Edwin Egede
12 Alternative Approaches to Piracy and Armed Robbery in Southeast Asian Waters and off the Horn of Africa: A Comparative Perspective
David M Ong
Part III: Rethinking the Main Tenets of Counter-piracy Approaches
13 The Dark Side of Counter-piracy Policies
Achilles Skordas
14 Piracy in Global Law and Global Governance
Jan Klabbers
15 Piracy and the Development of International Law
Malcolm D Evans and Sofi a Galani
