Prosecuting Maritime Piracy: Domestic Solutions to International Crimes

This book addresses maritime piracy by focusing on the unique and fascinating issues arising in the course of domestic piracy prosecutions, from the pursuit and apprehension of pirates to their trial and imprisonment. It examines novel matters not addressed in other published works, such as the challenges in preserving and presenting evidence in piracy trials, the rights of pirate defendants, and contending with alleged pirates who are juveniles. A more thorough understanding of modern piracy trials and the precedent they have established is critical to scholars, practitioners, and the broader community interested in counter-piracy efforts, as these prosecutions are likely to be the primary judicial mechanism to contend with pirate activity going forward.

Table of Contents:
Part I. Defining the Crime of Piracy and Establishing Jurisdiction over the Crime of Piracy: 1. The governing international law on maritime piracy Sandra Lynn Hodgkinson; 2. The incorporation of international law to define piracy crimes, national laws, and the definition of piracy Sandra Lynn Hodgkinson; 3. Exercising universal jurisdiction over piracy Ved P. Nanda; 4. Incorporating international law to establish jurisdiction: a comparative examination of the laws of the Netherlands, South Korea, Tanzania, India, and Kenya Milena Sterio; Part II. The Pursuit, Arrest, and Pre-Trial Treatment of Pirates: 5. The use of force against pirates Laurie R. Blank; 6. The use of force by private parties against suspected pirates Mark V. Vlasic and Jeffrey DeSousa; 7. Transfer of suspected and convicted pirates Frederick Lorenz and Laura Eshbach; 8. Pirates' right to a speedy trial Milena Sterio; Part III. Legal Issues in Domestic Pirate Trials: 9. Evidentiary issues in piracy prosecutions Frederick Lorenz and Kelly Paradis; 10. Piracy and the problem of 'command responsibility' Michael A. Newton; 11. The issue of juvenile piracy Jon Bellish; Part IV. Sentencing and Post-Sentence Treatment of Convicted Pirates: 12. The problems of pirate punishment Eugene Kontorovich; 13. The potential for asylum seeking by convicted pirates Yvonne M. Dutton; 14. Conclusion Michael P. Scharf.

About the Author :
Michael P. Scharf is interim Dean and the John Deaver Drinko-Baker and Hostetler Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is also managing director of the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Public International Law and Policy Group. He is the author of seventy-five scholarly articles and sixteen books, most recently, Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis (2010) and Customary International Law in Times of Fundamental Change: Recognizing Grotian Moments (2013). During the elder Bush and Clinton administrations, Scharf served in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the US Department of State. Michael A. Newton is an expert on accountability and conduct-of-hostilities issues and Professor of the Practice of Law at the Vanderbilt University Law School. He has published more than seventy articles and book chapters, as well as opinion pieces for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and other newspapers. In addition to numerous articles on issues of international law, he is the author of Enemy of the State: The Trial and Execution of Saddam Hussein (2009) and the senior editor of Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter (2007–10, updated annually). Milena Sterio is Associate Dean for Faculty Enrichment and the Charles R. Emrick, Jr-Calfee Halter and Griswold Professor at Cleveland State University's Marshall College of Law. She has published in the American University Law Review, the Connecticut International Law Journal, and the Fordham International Law Journal, among others. She is the author of The Right to Self-Determination under International Law: 'Selfistans', Secession and the Great Powers' Rule (2012).