The issue of piracy and maritime terrorism becomes complicated when it is discussed in relation to the rights of the coastal states regarding the right of passage in straits used for international navigation. One of the issues in this respect is the conflicting interests of littoral states that insist on sovereignty over the sea areas adjacent to their coast and the needs of user states to retain and indeed to have more freedom in navigation while passing through and overflying these straits. The Straits of Malacca is a region where the concepts of respective freedom have been tested. To further complicate the matter, in law and perceptions, the 11 September 2001 atrocities brought about an urgent need for more radical changes to the existing international law to deal with possible terrorist attacks at sea. This resulted in the rapid adoption under the IMO of the ISPS Code through amendments to the SOLAS Convention 1974. More radical changes affecting the basic rights of freedom of the high seas are taking place in the amendments of the SUA Convention 1988. Against this backdrop, the issue of maritime security and the way in which the littoral states deal with it while maintaining their rights and sovereignty has had fundamental effects in the Straits of Malacca. The main purpose of this thesis is to trace the legal developments and changes that have taken place in regional and international law since the September 11 atrocities, which have fundamentally affected the question of the littoral states' sovereignty and rights over adjacent maritime zones against the rights of user states and interested maritime powers as applied in new security outlooks and threats of international terrorism. Through case studies to examine fundamentals, this thesis attempts to answer the question as to whether the trend to further 'internationalise' the Straits of Malacca is justified under the international conventions and customary law. The thesis will trace the use of the issue of piratical attacks in the straits, which have enabled third parties to offer security arrangements to the littoral states, and how diplomatic negotiations on this question between the littoral states themselves are compounded by complex historical, legal and political issues and by related organizational structures at national, regional and international levels. These objectives can be achieved only by a rigorous evaluation of the law of the sea with respect to security, accompanied by examinations of actual processes and practices in the form of case studies. A summing up of the evidence so examined is provided in the final chapter of the thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:550120 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Ja'afar, Sabirin Bin |
| Contributors | Palmer, Sarah |
| Publisher | University of Greenwich |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://gala.gre.ac.uk/8211/ |
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