The Forum > General Discussion > Are irregular arrivals a wartime secret?
Are irregular arrivals a wartime secret?
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Posted by Shadow Minister, Saturday, 12 October 2013 5:22:11 AM
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The problem with international law is precisely that there is no one international body that has supreme authority, and much of the law is based on precedent.
For example, just recently the Russians interdicted a Greenpeace boat in clearly international waters accusing it of piracy. There is no court which will move against a country protecting itself against pirates, and any future legal action will require Greenpeace to not only prove that they weren't pirates, but to show beyond a shadow of doubt that the Russians knew that.
There are several activities on the high seas that precedent has given clear signals that are acceptable for interdiction on the high seas. These include piracy, slavery, human smuggling, etc.
"as regards criminal activity over which the inspecting state may assert jurisdiction (such as piracy, the slave trade, unauthorized broadcasting, human smuggling or human trafficking79), the state can enforce its criminal jurisdiction over the ship and its crew in accordance with the relevant provisions of international law. But, in contrast with the other instances under which Article 110 UNCLOS allows for a right to visit, neither UNCLOS nor other parts of the Law of the Sea confer an explicit right upon states to subject an interdicted stateless vessel, its crew or its passengers to such far-reaching measures as seizure or arrest."
Based on this there are several countries which stop people smugglers in international waters and turn the boats around on a regular basis, and there has not been one successful court case against them. If Australia were to intercept people smugglers on the high seas (outside its contiguous or economic zones) any court case against Australia would be futile.
Within Australia's contiguous zone, (which is still international waters) Australia clearly has the right to stop, board, and tow back people smuggling boats.