The Resurgence Of Piracy: A Phenomenon Of Modern Times

Abstract

Maritime piracy has a very long history and was thought to have, more or less, become a matter of the past.Its resurgence, which threatens world trade and international security, is a phenomenon of modern times.This development is attributable to many factors, from the poverty of coastal populations and desire for financial gain, to the weakness of some states' policing functions, or even, as in the case of Somalia, the absence of an effective government and economic collapse, to the deficiencies of the legal environment characterized by both an insufficient legal framework and the lack of a response mechanism to counter piratical activities.Under customary international law, there is no authoritative definition of piracy.Rather, the concept was first codified by the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and later by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), although in a rather narrow manner, to include only acts committed for "private ends" on the high seas, and only those undertaken by one ship or aircraft against another ship or aircraft.Unlawful acts of violence directed against a ship, or against persons or property aboard, within a state's jurisdiction have been definedThe author is a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg and currently its Vice-President.For many years he has served as a member of the Austrian delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and has also represented his country at subsequent meetings and negotiations in that field.Opinions expressed in this Article are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of the Tribunal as a whole.

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