Annex 1: Glossary
Organisations and roles
There are a number of key organisations involved
in tracking piracy and assisting in suppressing it:
- Government
(UK and other)- National
Governments formulate policies to tackle piracy and develop strategies
to take forward the fight against piracy. They also implement
internationally agreed measures such as the International Ship
and Port Facility Security Code. National Governments are
responsible for prosecuting those who commit crimes within their
national (territorial) waters.
- International
Maritime Bureau (IMB)
- The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is a specialised
division of the International Chamber Of Commerce (ICC). The IMB
is a non-profit making organisation, established in 1981 to act
as a focal point in the fight against all types of maritime crime
and malpractice. One of the IMB's principle areas of expertise
is in the suppression of piracy. Concerned at the alarming growth
in the phenomenon, this led to the creation of the IMB Piracy
Reporting Centre in 1992. The Centre is based in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. It maintains a round-the-clock watch on the world's
shipping lanes, reporting pirate attacks to local law enforcement
and issuing warnings about piracy hotspots to shipping.
- International
Maritime Organization (IMO)
- The IMO was set up at an international conference in Geneva
in 1948, which adopted the IMO Convention. The Convention came
into force in 1958 and the Organization met for the first time
in 1959. The purposes of the Organization, as summarized by Article
1(a) of the Convention, are 'to provide machinery for cooperation
among Governments in the field of governmental regulation and
practices relating to technical matters of all kinds affecting
shipping engaged in international trade; to encourage and facilitate
the general adoption of the highest practicable standards in matters
concerning maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention
and control of marine pollution from ships'. The Organization
is also empowered to deal with administrative and legal matters
related to these purposes. The IMO's first task was to adopt a
new version of the International Convention for the Safety of
Life at Sea (SOLAS), the most important of all treaties dealing
with maritime safety. This was achieved in 1960. The IMO is implementing
a long-term anti-piracy project, which began in 1998. To assist
in anti-piracy measures, IMO issues reports on piracy and armed
robbery against ships submitted by Member Governments and international
organisations.
- North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
- NATO is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe
committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty
signed on 4 April 1949. In accordance with the Treaty, the fundamental
role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member
countries by political and military means.
- Royal
Navy - The Royal Navy
of the United Kingdom is the 'senior service' of the British armed
services, being the oldest of its three branches. From about 1692
to World War II, it was the largest and most powerful navy in
the world. Officially, the Royal Navy is only one component of
the Naval Service, which also includes the Royal Marines, the
Royal Naval Reserve, etc. In common usage, however, the whole
service is referred to as the Royal Navy.
- United
Nations (UN) - The UN
officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 when the United
Nations Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union,
the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other
45 signatories. The Charter is the constituting instrument of
the UN, setting out the rights and obligations of Member States,
and establishing the organisation's organs and procedures. The
purposes of the UN, as set forth in the Charter, are to maintain
international peace and security; to develop friendly relations
among nations; to cooperate in solving international economic,
social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and to be a centre
for harmonising the actions of nations in attaining these ends.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was signed in
1982; this sets out the internationally-accepted definition of
piracy on the high seas.
- United
States Coastguard -
the US Coastguard traces its history back to 1790. The coastguard
is one of the United States' five Armed Services. Its mission
is to protect the public, the environment, and US economic interests
- in the nation's ports and waterways, along the coast, on international
waters, or in any maritime region as required to support national
security.
Flagging
It is helpful to understand the flagging system that
operates in the shipping industry. Article 5 of SOLAS states that
there should exist a `genuine link' between the ship and the state.
In 1986, final agreement was reached on the UN Convention on Conditions
for Registration of Ships. The Convention lays down basic principles
on matters such as: functions of national administrations, the
identification and accountability of ship owners, manning etc.
Article 10 seeks to establish a `genuine link' by requiring owners
to be incorporated or to have a principal business in the flag
state. This is difficult to enforce because there are no effective
sanctions.
A 'flag of convenience' is the name given to countries
which are attractive to ship owners in terms of taxation, social
legislation and safety or environmental standards. The term `flag
of convenience' emerged in the practice of international shipping
during the mid-1940s, when several countries, principally Panama,
Liberia and Honduras, began to grant their flag to any foreign
merchant ship for a specified payment, confining themselves merely
to registering it. An international practice therefore developed
whereby the flag reflected a minimal link of the ship with the
flag State. The right to the flag was confirmed by documents specifying
the nationality of the ship. Such ships came to be called `ships
under a flag of convenience' and the countries trading in their
flag, `open registration countries' or `flag of convenience countries'.
The provisions in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995
relating to the registration of a British ship do not prevent
British owners from taking advantage of a flag of convenience.
All they need to do is form a company in the flag-of-convenience
State and to direct it from a place within the United Kingdom.
The ship must be owned by the company and the company's vessel
may then be registered in and fly the flag of that State. The
ship is then not a British ship because the company was not established
under the laws of the UK.
Red Ensign
The most widely known British flag is the Red Ensign.
In its original form the Red Ensign came into use as the Civil
Ensign of England in about 1650. In its present form, however,
the Red Ensign dates from the change to the Union of 1 January
1801, it was largely given into the care of the merchant service
by an Order in Council dated 9 July 1864. The legislation regarding
the hoisting of the Red Ensign is set out in the Merchant Shipping
Act 1995. Section 2 states that a British ship is entitled
to fly the red ensign, but a ship is not required to do so.
UNCLOS definition of piracy
Article 101 of the 1982 United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) uses the following definition:
Article 101 - UNCLOS
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any
act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or
the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed-
on the high seas,
against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property
on board such ship or aircraft;
against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in
a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
any act of voluntary participation in the operation
of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it
a pirate ship or aircraft;
any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating
an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b) (Emphasis applied)
International Maritime Bureau definition of piracy
The majority of recorded incidents to date have,
however, taken place in territorial waters and therefore
fall outside the UNCLOS definition of piracy. The International
Maritime Bureau (IMB) uses a definition adopted by the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) in a code of practice for the investigation
of crimes of piracy and armed robbery against ships at the 74th
meeting of its Maritime Safety Committee. This code of practice
creates a distinction between piracy and armed robbery against
ships:
An act of boarding or attempting to board any ship
with the apparent intent to commit theft or any other crime and
with the apparent intent or capability to use force in the furtherance
of that act.
This definition covers actual or attempted attacks
whether the ship is berthed, at anchor, or at sea.[127]
The IMB adopted this definition in 1992 when it set up its Piracy
Reporting Centre. Captain Pottengal Mukundan, Director of the
IMB, explained that the UNCLOS definition failed to encapsulate
the problem of piracy as it was actually manifesting itself. This
was why the IMB adopted the second, wider, definition.[128]
Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts
against the Safety of Maritime Navigation
The SUA Convention was adopted in 1988 and came into
force in March 1992. Amendments to the Convention and its related
Protocol, were adopted by the Diplomatic Conference on the Revision
of the SUA Treaties held from 10 to 14 October 2005. The amendments
were adopted in the form of Protocols to the SUA treaties (the
2005 Protocols). The IMO gives details of what key amendments
to articles 8, 11 and 12 will entail:
- Article
8 of the SUA Convention covers the responsibilities and roles
of the master of the ship, flag State and receiving State in delivering
to the authorities of any State Party any person believed to have
committed an offence under the Convention, including the furnishing
of evidence pertaining to the alleged offence. A new Article 8bis
in the 2005 Protocol covers co-operation and procedures to be
followed if a State Party desires to board a ship flying the flag
of a State Party when the requesting Party has reasonable grounds
to suspect that the ship or a person on board the ship is, has
been, or is about to be involved in, the commission of an offence
under the Convention.
- Article
11 covers extradition procedures. A new Article 11bis states that
none of the offences should be considered for the purposes of
extradition as a political offence. New article 11ter states that
the obligation to extradite or afford mutual legal assistance
need not apply if the request for extradition is believed to have
been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person
on account of that person's race, religion, nationality, ethnic
origin, political opinion or gender, or that compliance with the
request would cause prejudice to that person's position for any
of these reasons.
- Article
12 of the Convention requires States Parties to afford one another
assistance in connection with criminal proceedings brought in
respect of the offences. A new Article 12bis cover the conditions
under which a person who is being detained or is serving a sentence
in the territory of one State Party may be transferred to another
State Party for purposes of identification, testimony or otherwise
providing assistance in obtaining evidence for the investigation
or prosecution of offences.[129]
International Convention for the Safety of Life
at Sea
The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally
regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning
the safety of merchant ships. The first version was adopted in
1914, in response to the Titanic disaster, the second in 1929,
the third in 1948 and the fourth in 1960. A completely new Convention
was adopted in 1974 which included not only the amendments agreed
up until that date but a new amendment procedure - the tacit acceptance
procedure - designed to ensure that changes could be made within
a specified (and acceptably short) period of time. As a result
the 1974 Convention has been updated and amended on numerous occasions.
The Convention in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS,
1974, as amended.
The main objective of the SOLAS Convention is to
specify minimum standards for the construction, equipment and
operation of ships, compatible with their safety. Flag States
are responsible for ensuring that ships under their flag comply
with its requirements, and a number of certificates are prescribed
in the Convention as proof that this has been done. Control provisions
also allow Contracting Governments to inspect ships of other Contracting
States if there are clear grounds for believing that the ship
and its equipment do not substantially comply with the requirements
of the Convention - this procedure is known as port State control.The
current SOLAS Convention includes Articles setting out general
obligations, amendment procedure and so on, followed by an Annex
divided into 12 Chapters.
127 Ev 23 Back
128
Q 3 Back
129
http://www.imo.org/Conventions/mainframe.asp?topic_id=259&doc_id=686
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