The Conference is organised by the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 (Centre de droit international) on 4-5 May 2017.
The law of the sea governs the repression of criminality at sea only to a limited extent. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), for example, is almost silent on the matter. It does not, for instance, sufficiently address issues such as drug trafficking or migrant smuggling, while its provisions are sometimes out-dated and refer to issues such as the slave trade, piracy and unauthorised broadcasting.
Sectoral treaties (such as the Palermo Protocol, the Vienna Convention and SUA Convention) complement the UNCLOS regime as regards the repression of criminality at sea, but they are of a limited scope and insufficient in various respects. The fundamental question raised by the Conference at hand is as follows: in cases where the law of the sea regime does not offer the necessary legal tools to address criminality at sea, does having recourse to the UN Security Council constitute an effective alternative to the fight against criminality at sea? The aim is to assess whether recourse to the UN Security Council offers possible legal solutions, especially in terms of authorization of interventions for States where the law of the sea does not contain them.
We invite you to send an abstract (two pages maximum) in French or English by 15 March 2017 to kiara.neri@univ-lyon3.fr together with a short CV.
Notification of acceptance will be sent on 31 March 2017.
Call for Papers