Tribunal on Piracy: options to consider

In its resolution of 27 April 2010, the Security Council requested the UN Secretary-General to present a report on possible options to further the aim of prosecuting and imprisoning persons responsible for acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia.
Last week the Report of the Secretary General was made public. In its Report the Secretary-General identified following seven options for the Security Council to consider (see the Report):

Option 1: The enhancement of United Nations assistance to build capacity of regional States to prosecute and imprison persons responsible for acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia

Option 2: The establishment of a Somali court sitting in the territory of a third State in the region, either with or without United Nations participation

Option 3: The establishment of a special chamber within the national jurisdiction of a State or States in the region, without United Nations participation

Option 4: The establishment of a special chamber within the national jurisdiction of a State or States in the region, with United Nations participation

Option 5: The establishment of a regional tribunal on the basis of a multilateral agreement among regional States, with United Nations participation

Option 6: The establishment of an international tribunal on the basis of an agreement between a State in the region and the United Nations

Option 7: The establishment of an international tribunal by Security Council resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations

At the same time, the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia noted that that the crime of piracy is of a different nature and scope to the serious international crimes normally dealt with by international tribunals, and that suspected pirates brought before any such new international tribunal would be unlikely to meet the criterion of being the “most responsible” for the crimes in question, which is a threshold applied by most of the current international tribunals.
There was broad agreement in the Group that it may not be viable to extend the competence of the International Criminal Court to include the crime of piracy, nor to amend the competence of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

(Annex II to the Report, para. 53)

Those interested in the issues of the current International Tribunals may find it quite informative Annex I to the Report “Existing practice of the United Nations in establishing and participating in United Nations and United Nations assisted tribunals, and the experience of other relevant judicial mechanisms”.

See also previous post on this blog: "International Piracy Tribunal forthcoming?"