Research Paper
Jurisdiction of Crimes in the high Seas
In may 2021, a US warship had seized a huge weapons cache of Russian and Chinese origins off of a dinghy in the Arabian sea, however after the weapons were seized and the sailors questioned, they were let go without any hassle , as this happened on international waters, now if the same crime had happened on land, it would have been a different scenario. Many a times with the lack of jurisdiction, crimes that are illegal on the land happen in the high seas, many vessels have their registration in Panama or Liberia to reduce taxes, ships follow the laws of the countries they are registered in in the high seas, how does it affect combatting crimes perpetrated when in the sea? the issue of jurisdiction in the high seas would be explored in this research paper as that would be a hindrance when the Panama flagged cruise ship carrying US passengers reaches the Bahamas. There are these traditional crimes that happen on land like thievery, murder, rape, what is the punishment and the extent of jurisdiction for it to happen on the high seas?, in traditional passenger vessels. More importantly there are certain crimes that are exclusive to the seas like piracy and smuggling. Piracy is towards the extent that it is synonymous with crimes in the high seas. This paper will explore the causes, issues, combat of piracy in detail. The main case as to piracy is who has the jurisdiction to combat piracy? The (UNCLOS) is the guiding legislation behind the laws of the sea. This paper shall discuss the jurisdiction of the crimes, the crimes that occur as well as legislations combatting it.
Published by: K. Aditya
Author: K. Aditya
Paper ID: V8I2-1362
Paper Status: published
Published: May 2, 2022
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