Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32984/gapzh.9.1.5
International Law Aspects of Interstate Cooperation in Combating Migrant Smuggling by Sea
Trpimir M. Šošić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8623-0488
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to highlight the particular importance of interstate cooperation in combating migrant smuggling by sea, notably in waters beyond the sovereignty of coastal states. In explaining the international legal framework for the activities of states in combating migrant smuggling by sea, emphasis is put on the jurisdiction of states to take enforcement measures against vessels that are engaged in migrant smuggling. First, the general rules concerning the jurisdiction of states on the high seas are discussed, which are codified today in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. Thereafter, the focus is on the special rules regarding migrant smuggling by sea, as comprised in the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air of 2000, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Article 7 of the Protocol indeed emphasizes the duty of states parties to “cooperate to the fullest extent possible to prevent and suppress the smuggling of migrants by sea, in accordance with the international law of the sea.” Article 17 of the Migrant Smuggling Protocol furthermore encourages states parties to “consider the conclusion of bilateral or regional agreements or operational arrangements or understandings” with a view to enhancing the Protocol’s implementation. In that respect the paper examines and evaluates forms of bilateral and regional cooperation between states with an emphasis on the Mediterranean, and especially considers the cooperation between the member states of the European Union via the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). In addition, the UN Security Council Resolution 2240 (2015) is analyzed, since it grants the UN member states exceptional jurisdictional powers on the high seas off the Libyan coast and serves as the legal basis for the activities of EUNAVOR Med Sophia, an EU naval operation in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy.
Keywords
international law of the sea; migrant smuggling by sea; interstate cooperation; state jurisdiction
Hrčak ID:
207805
URI
Publication date:
7.11.2018.
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