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Towards an International Piracy Tribunal: Curing the Legal Limbo of Captured Pirates

Towards an International Piracy Tribunal: Curing the Legal Limbo of Captured Pirates JAMES D. FRY I. INTRODUCTION The number of pirates from Somalia acting in and around the Arabian Sea and Arab Gulf seems to have grown exponentially in recent years, catching numerous headlines and the world's attention in the process. Although naval powers have devoted substantial energy and resources to conducting various enforcement missions, little has been done to prosecute their captured pirates. At present, the capturing powers usually either release the pirates shortly after they are captured or `dump' them for trial at a developing African country. This practice hardly can be said to provide an effective deterrence to piracy. To aid in deterring these pirates through proper prosecution, the establishment of an international judicial organisation in the region ­ perhaps in Qatar ­ that focuses specifically on these types of crimes and criminals might be helpful in terms of convenience and legitimacy. This article is the first to explore this possibility from a legal perspective. Critics will be quick to question whether use of an already existing forum might be more viable. Expanding the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction to cover piracy is one option, although at least two factors frustrate this option. First, adding piracy to genocide, http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Journal of International and Comparative Law Edinburgh University Press

Towards an International Piracy Tribunal: Curing the Legal Limbo of Captured Pirates

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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
© Edinburgh University Press 2014
Subject
Articles; African Studies
ISSN
0954-8890
eISSN
1755-1609
DOI
10.3366/ajicl.2014.0098
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

JAMES D. FRY I. INTRODUCTION The number of pirates from Somalia acting in and around the Arabian Sea and Arab Gulf seems to have grown exponentially in recent years, catching numerous headlines and the world's attention in the process. Although naval powers have devoted substantial energy and resources to conducting various enforcement missions, little has been done to prosecute their captured pirates. At present, the capturing powers usually either release the pirates shortly after they are captured or `dump' them for trial at a developing African country. This practice hardly can be said to provide an effective deterrence to piracy. To aid in deterring these pirates through proper prosecution, the establishment of an international judicial organisation in the region ­ perhaps in Qatar ­ that focuses specifically on these types of crimes and criminals might be helpful in terms of convenience and legitimacy. This article is the first to explore this possibility from a legal perspective. Critics will be quick to question whether use of an already existing forum might be more viable. Expanding the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction to cover piracy is one option, although at least two factors frustrate this option. First, adding piracy to genocide,

Journal

African Journal of International and Comparative Law – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Oct 1, 2014

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