A Research On The Regulations On Piracy By International Law And Measures For Improvement

By analyzing the clarity of the UNCLOS definition of piracy and the sufficiency of this definition to effectively fight against piracy and other illegal acts of violence at sea, the thesis puts forward a proposal to redefine piracy.First of all, this thesis puts forward the problems of international law on the issue of combating piracy, and then from a legal point of view analyzes and compares the international legal norms concerning piracy. The main study focuses on:(1) the clarity of the UNCLOS definition of piracy and the sufficiency of this definition to effectively fight against piracy and other illegal acts of violence at sea by the international community; in addition, the reference to redefine piracy by the definition of piracy under customary international law. (2) the reference to redefine piracy by the definition of armed robbery against ships of the IMO resolution A.1025(26). (3) the reference to redefine piracy by the definition of unlawful acts of the SUA Convention. (4) the reference to redefine piracy by the definition of security incidents of the SOLAS Convention and the ISPS Code. (5) the relationship between these definitions mentioned above and the relationship between the international laws with regard to these definitions. (6) the jurisdiction for piracy and other illegal acts of violence at sea.The analysis concludes that the UNCLOS definition of piracy is not clear and is unable to meet the requirements of the international community to effectively fight against piracy and other illegal acts of violence at sea. It is also concluded that this definition should be redefined by binding of the definition of piracy under customary international law, the definition of armed robbery against ships of the IMO resolution A.1025(26) and the definition of unlawful acts of SUA Convention. For example, the offences of piracy should be broadened, the term "for private ends" should be deleted, the two-ship rule should be abolished, and the scope of piracy and the scope to apply piracy articles should be extended accordingly.In this thesis, it is recommended that piracy should be redefined as "illegal acts of violence at sea" under certain conditions, and "illegal acts of violence at sea" should be explained in accordance with a broad sense of the term "acts of violence". Also in this thesis it is suggested that universal jurisdiction should still be applied to piracy. Moreover, under certain circumstances the piracy articles can be applied in a state's territorial sea so as to apply universal jurisdiction to certain illegal acts of violence at sea in the territorial sea of this state in question.