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TOWARDS EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF ANTI-PIRACY LAWS IN THE MARITIME JURISDICTION IN THE GULF OF GUINEA
Abstract
The history of Maritime piracy is an old concept, which can be traced far way back since the time when the human being started using sea as a means of transport. Its criminality was firstly been considered by the customary international law even before codification of the same in 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas and later the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Somali piracy emerged in the 1990s, its narrative root causes, and impact brought by it and how it is combated have moved the author to write this research. The International law perception of what constitutes acts of piracy lead the governments of Gulf of Guinea coastal states to be solely responsible for maritime security of their countries as well as eliminating piracy acts happening in their area. Different from piracy off the coast of Somalia, a stateless country, Gulf of Guinea countries have stable governments and thus the principle of sovereignty applies. The combat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is vested to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) with the aid from partner States.This research focused on impact of Gulf of Guinea piracy to the maritime industry and to the countries, effectiveness of the control measures placed to combat piracy and challenges facing the combat of piracy in the area. Moreover, the definition of maritime piracy, narrative root causes of piracy off the coast of Gulf of Guinea, and lastly, conclusion and recommendations are the areas covered by this research.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Drastic reduction of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Bill was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in July 2019 thereby enabling Nigeria to establish a domestic legal framework for dealing with piracy and other maritime crimes. It took almost a decade of advocacy to implement such a law in order to curb and deter sea piracy, armed robbery and other unlawful acts at sea.
The Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act 20195 gives effect to the relevant provisions of several international conventions already ratified by Nigeria. It is significant because it has:
- ended the controversy around whether the crime of sea piracy is defined in any local legislation; and
- bestowed on the Federal High Court6 exclusive jurisdiction to determine matters of armed robbery and other unlawful acts at sea.
The key objective of the Act is to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)2 and the SUA Convention3 in Nigeria. In assenting to the Bill, the president successfully concluded almost a decade of advocacy to implement such a law in order to curb and deter sea piracy, armed robbery at sea, and other unlawful acts at sea.4 The focus of this article is to assess the adequacy or otherwise of the Act in the face of these and other emerging maritime threats.
Maritime piracy is not a new phenomenon in the world maritime trade. It has been observed way back centuries for centuries having the same cause but differs in style. Despite its oldest concept into people’s mind piracy has never been observed as a friend to the maritime industry, it is indeed an enemy of the sea transportation, an enemy to the world economy, an enemy to the consumers and thus it has always been fought. And because it comes in the different style and form depending on the need and geographical location, even the way of combating it can never be uniform. The advancement of technology resulted piracy of today to be far way different from the ancient piracy thus even response by the world on how to combat it should be in accordance with the technology advancement. This research is focusing on the recent piracy activities happening in the Gulf of Guinea.
Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea have been observed to grow in an alarming proportions in recent times where hi-jacking and kidnaping of ships and its crew happen in great number. The Gulf has been ranked by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) as the area with the third highest incidence of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the world, following South East Asia and Horn of Africa1. The piracy activities in this area involves not only hijack for ransom, but also theft of cash and cargo and siphoning oil carried on board the attacked ships. These activities are really endangering safety of navigation. The geographical coverage of these activities is in the Nigerian coast water, Togo coast water, Benin coastal water, the waters of Ivory Coast, waters of Gabon and other nearby countries of West and Central Africa. These led the London-based Lloyd’s Market Association, an Umbrella group of Maritime Insurers, to list these countries in the risk category as Somalia
Maritime piracy has been classified, together with others (war crimes and crimes against humanity) as universal crime under the international law, whereby all nations may both arrest and punish piracy provided that it has been committed on the high seas (terra nullius). Piracy under international context has firstly been defined by the 1958 Geneva Convention on the high seas as illegal acts of violence, detention or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or passengers of a private ship or private aircraft and directed against another ship or aircraft or against persons or property onboard such ships or aircraft on the high seas which is outside of jurisdiction of any State . This definition has later in 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea article 101, been confirmed and adopted.
Shipping accounts for the transportation of over 90 percent of world trade in volume terms. It is also noteworthy that the seas host important economic infrastructure such as offshore oil and gas production platforms, underwater fibre-optic cables carrying 95 percent of the world’s intercontinental communications traffic (emails, phone calls, money transfers) and pipelines.1 In view of its importance as the nerve centre of world trade, the safety and security at sea of vessels, cargo, passengers and crew, and maritime infrastructure and facilities have remained of paramount concern to the international community.
Definition of piracy in the international law eyes has emerged discussion particularly on the geographical coverage of the place where piracy activities are considered to have taken place. This definition is considered to be narrow as it has left no room for the activities of the same nature happening elsewhere than on the high seas. It excludes all the activities of a like that is happening in the territorial waters of a State and within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of a State where no other State than the territorial’s shall have jurisdiction over the matter, and International Law could not apply but Municipal Laws of the littoral State where the piracy activities are taking place. Piracy activities happening in the Gulf of Guinea have emerged mixed thoughts amongst scholars on whether the same fit into the international law definition of piracy or not, this research will also focus piracy within the ambit of international law definition and whether the same is exhaustive.
The need to secure the seas and shipping against emerging threats to maritime security has, therefore, assumed much significance. In his 2008 report on Oceans and the Law of the Sea,2 the United Nations Secretary-General identified seven specific threats to maritime security as follows: piracy and armed robbery against ships, terrorism, illicit trafficking in arms and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, smuggling and trafficking of persons by sea, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU Fishing), and intentional and unlawful damage to the marine environment. One may also include other threats such as low-intensity or irregular maritime militia and stowaways. Two of the most violent of these threats, however, are piracy and terrorism.
Piracy as a general term constitutes a particular form of maritime violence usually characterized by aggression, plunder, hostage-taking and death. Pirate attacks threaten seafarers, the security of navigation and the marine environment, and also has the potential to disrupt the provision of humanitarian aid, fishing, tourism and marine scientific research. The alteration of navigational routes in order to bypass areas of suspected pirate activity also affect commerce.3
Terrorism, on the other hand, has been described as ‘political piracy.’4 The crime of terrorism as has been shown by the September 11 happenings is a crime that has far-reaching international implications affecting not only the nation in which the atrocious acts are committed but also the international community in general.5 Terrorism simply means deliberately and violently targeting civilians for political purposes. Terrorism can be committed during an armed conflict or at peace times. It can be widespread and systematic or simply sporadic.6 There is, however, no internationally recognized definition of terrorism.
The concept of maritime terrorism was initially understood within the context of piracy whereby any unauthorized act of violence on the high seas would be characterized as piracy. However, as the formal definition of piracy under international law came to be understood as limited to acts of violence perpetrated for financial purposes, there were still acts of violence at sea undertaken for political reasons. These violent acts, if performed outside the territorial sea, were not recognized as crimes over which all states could exercise jurisdiction, as is the case with piracy. Instead, these acts came to be branded as maritime terrorism. Maritime terrorism has been described as ‘the systematic use or threat to use acts of violence against international shipping and maritime services by an individual or group to induce fear and intimidation in a civilian population in order to achieve political ambitions or objectives.’
1.2.0: OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
- The main objective of this essay is to critically analysis To understand the maritime piracy in Nigeria. Furthermore, the essay tends to highlight circumstances surrounding maritime piracy in Nigeria. It also aims to understand the relationship between anti-piracy laws in the maritime jurisdiction and solution to maritime piracy problems.
1.3.0: FOCUS OF STUDY
This essay shall focus on anti-piracy laws in the maritime jurisdiction in the gulf of guines and other instances surrounding it.
1.4.0: SCOPE OF STUDY
This essay shall not exceed the content of this title; it shall be within the purview prescribed by the topic. This essay has it main focus on ant-piracy laws in the maritime jurisdiction in the gulf of guines.
1.5.0: METHODOLOGY
Both the primary and secondary sources of law are the basis for this research work. Thus the Evidence Act, Law text books, Law report, Articles on law, Various Statute and Cases on the subject matter are the sources of information. This project shall also be analytical in nature.
1.6.0: LITERATURE REVIEW
This legal definition of piracy must be distinguished from the concept of armed robbery against ships. This is a term used by the IMO in its Code of Practice for the Investigation of Crimes of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships. This Code, which has no legal status, defines armed robbery against ships as ‘any illegal act of violence or detention or any act of depredation, or threat thereof, other than an act of piracy, committed for private ends and directed against a ship or against persons or property on board such a ship, within a State’s internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea; and any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described above.’
The Achille Lauro case involved numerous controversies concerning whether Italy and Egypt had agreed to forego prosecution, whether such a promise was conditioned on no one being harmed during the seizure, concerning the role of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, concerning legal obligation of the states involved with regard to extradition and international cooperation, and concerning whether the hijacking was a universal offence under international customary law or only an offence depending on its definition by the national law of the various states involved.
The possibility of establishing universal jurisdiction was then related to the Convention on the High Seas provision on piracy. However, the Achille Lauro incident could not be characterized as piracy because the crimes were not committed for private ends and did not involve a pirate ship. Another controversial issue was related to the fact that as the terrorists with their weapon freely boarded the Achille Lauro in Italy the crimes could not be considered as entirely perpetrated in the high seas, thus creating a further impediment to the exercise of universal jurisdiction.
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