Study On The Piracy Of The International Law And The Universal Jurisdiction

Review the history of the piracy in the introduction of this paper. The piracy was very fierce in the ancient, but the piracy happened less in the modern. However, in the 80's of the 20th century the piracy continued to rise, particularly in 2008, Somali pirates attracted a high degree of global attention. It can be seen that in the current situation, the study of piracy, especially the piracy of the international law and its most important legal system - the principle of universal jurisdiction ,has important practical significance.Chapter I of this paper firstly introduces the characteristics of the modern piracy and then raises the legal definitions of piracy, including in the international law and the national law. Because of different national conditions, the definitions of piracy in the national law are different each other. The international law defined the piracy through two stages: the first phase are the 17th century to 1958, the second phase in 1958 to the present. In the first stage, the customary international law and some scholars of the international law defined the piracy, and there was no international treaty to define what the piracy was in the international law. In the second stage, the Article 15 of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas of 1958 and the Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 clearly provided the basic same definition of piracy, which is the first time to define the piracy by the form of a convention. We should strictly differentiate the piracy of the international law from the piracy of the national law. Chapter II of this article deep study the subject elements, the subjective elements, and the objective elements about the piracy of the international law based on the Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, and then from the study a comparative analysis will be made among the implementing action ,the helping action and the abetting action. It is believed that this convention provided very strict requirements to establish the implementing action of the piracy in the international law, such as the subject of the implementation should be"private"and just for "private purposes", while still on the high seas against another one ship or aircraft, or against the person or property on this ship or aircraft, or in any other place outside the state jurisdiction against the ship, aircraft, person or property. With the development of society, such strict requirements no longer meet the new situation, and should be revised.Chapter III of this article first discusses the concept and characteristics of the principle of universal jurisdiction, and then argues the establishment of this principle to the piracy of the international law. There is a very close relationship between the piracy of the international law and the principle of universal jurisdiction. The latter has been established by the former, which is not only because the piracy of the international law is an international crime, but also because of the particular characteristics of its own. This close relationship has undergone two stages from the customary international law to the stage of the international treaty law.Chapter IV of this article emphatically discusses the implementation of the principle of universal jurisdiction on the piracy of the international law, mainly from both the implementing subject and the implemented way. It is found that the provisions relating to the principle of universal jurisdiction in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 have many legal gaps, such as the priority jurisdiction or the jurisdiction order; Exercising the right to board, arrest and seizure in the territory of a state; the required procedural to exercise the right to board, arrest and seizure; the minimum obligation when the court of the arresting state makes a trial; and so on. Therefore, the Convention should be improved.