Counter-piracy law in practice

In a new book, Senior Researcher Jessica Larsen analyses how the legal frameworks governing counter-piracy were applied in practice, when international navies and regional coastal states engaged in the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia between 2008-2016.

The book is a socio-legal study based on both legal analysis and ethnographic fieldwork. It takes the reader onto a warship policing the Indian Ocean and into the courtrooms in the island state of Seychelles, which prosecuted 17 cases of piracy. Through interviews and observations, the book yields new insights into how counter-piracy law works in practice. Scholarship has mainly examined applicable law governing counter-piracy. This book steps into the field to also examine applied law. 

The analysis points to areas of legal ambiguity as to which legal regimes are in force at sea. It identifies practices that suggest impunity and question legal certainty in court. The implications of this need consideration, as counter-piracy off Somalia has served as a governance paradigm in other maritime domains, e.g. the on-going fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.