海盗赎金的共同海损性质研究

针对近年来海盗劫持船舶现象对国际航运安全所造成的严重威胁,由船东支付赎金换取船货获释成为了当前为应对海盗行为、保障船货安全所采取的最不得已但同时也是最行之有效的通行措施。由于支付赎金是船东在其应尽的法定义务之外所遭受的损失,因此基于对船东利益的保护,由船货双方分摊海盗赎金成为了航运实务发展的趋势;而船货双方分摊海盗赎金的理论依据则在于海盗赎金的法律性质应当被定性为共同海损。     

海商法视角内的海盗强索赎金问题

海盗劫持船舶已成为威胁国际航运安全的重要因素,大多数海盗劫持船舶事件最终都以向海盗缴纳赎金的方式解决。虽然海盗行为属于国际刑法的研究范畴,但海盗索取赎金的后果关乎船货双方的风险和损失分担问题,因此,有必要在海商法的视角内对此加以研究。根据海盗索取赎金时所指向的对象,赎金分为船货赎金、船员赎金和乘客赎金三类,应通过赎金的性质确定风险的最终承担者。     

索马里海盗赎金的共同海损性质论

索马里海盗并非恐怖主义,船东支付海盗赎金解救被劫船货不应被认定为非法。在索马里海盗劫持船货期间,船舶和货物面临共同的真实危险。在公权力救助没有取得效果的情形下,支付赎金是解救船货的合理措施。赎金是船东应尽的法定义务之外的损失,是船东为船货利益作出的自我牺牲,符合共同海损的构成要件。基于保护和平衡船货双方利益的宗旨,应将索马里海盗赎金认定为共同海损,并由船货双方予以分摊。     

海盗劫持期间停租的法律问题研究

海盗行为近年来产生了新变化,其通过武力或武力威胁的方式劫持船舶后羁押,以索取高额赎金。劫持期间少则数日,多则数月,造成航运业重大的时间损失。在期租合同中,时间损失由租方承担,若遭遇海盗劫持,租方的救济措施之一就是援引期租合同中的停租条款,以减轻损失。本文通过研究典型判例及发展趋势,探讨海盗劫持期间可否构成停租,为当事方订立合同时预先规避海盗风险提供建议。     

海盗——租约下的英国法律与实务问题研究

苏伊士运河、亚丁湾和北印度洋构成了世界航运的主要水道之一。据称,每年利用该水道通行的商船超过20 000艘。但是,索马里海岸和亚丁湾也因其频繁出没的海盗以及海盗在劫持船舶和人质后获取高额赎金而声名狼藉。如此猖獗的海盗袭击无疑给国际航运市场带来了巨大的冲击,特别是对租约履行以及海上保险的承保和理赔等产生严重影响。从法律和实务的角度就海盗对租约履行的影响加以研究,特别是对船东在租约项下拒绝船舶穿越亚丁湾的权利、穿越海盗频繁出没海域与额外费用分担、船舶在海盗劫持情况下的停租及租约解除等问题进行分析和探讨。     

由“索马里海盗事件”引发的法律问题思考

索马里海盗，是一群专门在海上抢劫其他国船只的犯罪者。1991年索马里内战的爆发，令亚丁湾这一带海盗活动更趋频繁，曾多次发生劫持，暴力伤害船员事件。面对日益猖獗的海盗行为，需要国际社会积极予以重视和打击。本文试从国际法角度分析打击索马里海盗和挽救损失的法律性质。     

打击索马里海盗中的国际合作问题研究

近年来索马里海域海盗活动猖獗,危及国际海运安全和全人类的共同利益,已成为国际社会高度关注的,影响和破坏国际海运安全的问题之一,构成了严重危害和平与安全的国际罪行。联合国通过决议授权后各国纷纷赴索马里海域打击海盗。从国际法学角度通过对打击海盗行为的依据、目的、各国的普遍管辖权、免责以及国家主权原则的例外等国际法律问题的分析,可以厘定打击海盗行为的性质、方式和合法性。     

对保险公司赔付海盗赎金的假想

海盗已是国际上公认的威胁海上货物运输的一种危害。世界闻名的索马里海盗被中国船舶击退一事令世界各航运公司为之振奋。可是,欢呼的同时,我们不得不冷静地思考,并不是所有的船舶都能幸免于难。当被海盗攻击劫持后,一般只能采取两种措施:1.投保了海盗险,向保险公司索赔。2.交付海盗赎金。本文将以保险公司赔付海盗赎金的假想为题来阐述第二种措施中当事人的救济手段。     

对索马里海盗问题及中国派出海军舰队护航的浅析——以海权论为视角

在1991年以来的17年间,索马里几乎从未间断过内战,这种游离于无政府状态下的国内秩序无疑是滋生海盗团伙的温床。索马里海盗仅仅在2008年就制造了近40起劫持外国船只事件,收取赎金总计数千万美元,索马里海盗问题已经成为备受国际社会关注的国际性问题。2008年联合国通过了多项决议倡导各国通过派出海军军舰护航的形式来打压索马里海盗的气焰,确保亚丁湾海域的海运安全。中国于2008年末也派出了自己的海军舰队为中国(包括港澳台)商船保驾护航,然而中国的举动却面临着各种不同的眼光和声音。本文以索马里海盗和中国海军军舰出征为视角,依托海权论进行分析,得出一些关于解决索马里海盗问题的方法的看法。     

打造打击海盗的国际司法协作平台——索马里海盗的来源、现状、对其实施打击的法律依据及应注意的问题初探

索马里位于“非洲之角”，扼守红海入口处。经红海穿越苏伊士运河前往欧洲和北美的货轮．都要穿越索马里海域，每天大约有250艘左右的货船经过，是一条重要的商船航道。但是，该海域如今海盗猖獗，被国际海事局称为世界上最危险的海域之一。仅2008年8月20日一天，海盗就劫持了3条国际船舶，10月1日又袭击了4艘船只，而9月25日劫持乌克兰“法伊尼”号军火运输船之举，可谓“登蜂追极”。不仅索要赎金高达2000万美元，而且挟持人质与多艘外国军舰对峙。     

从海盗赎金的双重性质看船东与货主的博弈

船东遭受的索马里海盗赎金损失,同时符合海难救助和共同海损的构成要件。从船东单方利益看,船东支付赎金的行为是海难救助,但此主张无法使船东从海难救助制度中获益。若主张共同海损,船东可从船舶保险中获赔,获得共同海损的多种担保方式,对无法从货主处实现的共同海损分摊可从船东保赔协会获得补偿,甚至船货同属一人时,该主张亦成立,这符合船东的利益;从船货利益的一致性看,这符合船东与货主的共同利益;从行业特征来看,作为海上运输的参与者和受益者,货主与船东一起分担海上风险,这符合海运业发展的客观要求。共同海损的主张是船货双方利益博弈的结果,体现了海商法为平衡船货利益和维护海运业发展在这背后所进行的调整。     

Tackling Somali piracy

The last couple of years has seen a revival of maritime piracy. It spread from the coast of Somalia to nearby waters and further. Somali pirates captured dozens of ships and their crew and demanded large sums of ransom. This in turn has triggered the international community to send an international fleet of marine flotillas to protect the international shipping trade. Furthermore, international shipping companies took target hardening measures through barricading ships and giving the crew access to weapons. Still, piracy attacks are escalating even as we speak. Since stepping up repressive measures does not seem to have solved the problem, the question arises of what other options are available to prevent piracy. Situational crime prevention might not seem the most obvious tool in this case, but it is worth considering. By using the vocabulary of situational crime prevention, a neutral analysis of the situation can be applied and may help to identify possible ways to counter piracy. E.g., we are not interested in the motives of the pirates, but ways to make it unattractive for them to attack passing ships. When we consider that the Somali government is absent because of internal chaos, it becomes obvious that other forms of guardianship must be introduced.     

Harvest of arrests but no prosecution: ideation toward strengthening the legal regime for prosecuting pirates in Nigeria

Prosecuting pirates in local courts is one of the most effective ways to suppress piracy. Hence, appropriate legal regime is imperative for prosecuting pirates. Despite the spate of piracy off the Nigerian coast and its attendant consequences, there has been no prosecution of pirates in the country. This paper examined the nature of piracy in Nigeria, the legal basis for prosecuting pirates, challenges in piracy prosecution and measures to enhance the prosecution of pirates in the country. The paper argued that prosecuting pirates is pivotal in curbing piracy and to effectively prosecute pirates, Nigeria should enforce its domestic law criminalising piracy.     

Kidnap for Ransom in South East Asia

Kidnapping for ransom is not a new phenomenon. According to the Control Risk Group, an international risk consultancy, kidnappings of foreign nationals globally have increased by 275% over the past 10 years. High profile incidents such as the tourist kidnappings in 2000 by the Abu Sayyaf group, operating out of the troubled southern region of the Philippines, show that South East Asia has its own regionalised kidnapping hotspots. It is suspected that a high proportion of kidnappings are perpetrated by economically motivated crime groups but it is not possible to estimate with any degree of accuracy what percentage can be attributed to organised crime. This article will provide an overview of the problem, drawing upon existing literature available in the public domain. A typological discussion will show the critical differences between the various categories of kidnapping. The reliability of existing statistics, categorisation and recording of kidnapping for ransom will also be scrutinised, in particular for their variability across the region, to see whether this presents a barrier to a better understanding of the size and seriousness of the problem. As kidnapping for ransom incidents are becoming increasingly transnational in character, the final section will highlight the desirability of formulating and agreeing upon regional standardised definitions and counting rules for kidnap.     

军舰护航打击索马里海盗：法律依据和司法程序安排

军舰护航涉及国内法和国际法双重依据问题,其中联合国安理会的相关决议和索马里政府的同意,构成军舰护航打击索马里海盗的国际法依据。随着打击海盗行动的深入发展,法律合作成为打击海盗国际合作中亟待加强的重要领域。各国应尽快订立或完善刑事罪名,确立对海盗的普遍管辖权;协议海盗疑犯的移交、审判和监管安排,为军舰护航打击海盗提供法律基础;加强对索马里海域沿岸国的援助,帮助其加强国内司法能力建设。     

Pirates,prisoners, and preliterates: anarchic context and the private enforcement of law

This paper investigates institutions that develop to strengthen or expand the discipline of continuous dealings as a mechanism for privately enforcing law. I consider three such institutions in three different anarchic contexts: that of Caribbean pirates; that of drug-dealing gangs and prison inmates; and that of preliterate tribesmen. These cases highlight several ways in which different anarchic contexts give rise to different private law enforcement institutions. The varieties of private law enforcement institutions that emerge in different anarchic contexts reflect the particular problem situations that persons who rely on those institutions confront in their attempts to protect property rights without government.     

Who are sea cutthroats? A typological analysis of pirates

In North America and Europe, numerous books, articles, and monographs on pirates have been published in the past three decades. Although these publications do provide readers valuable information about piratical activities around the world, few of these contain a categorization of pirates. The purpose of this paper is to develop a typology for historical and modern pirates. This taxonomy is composed of three factors: position of state managers, ideology, and continuity of piracy. Each of these factors is divided into two levels: state-supporting vs. non state-supporting for stance of state managers; distinctiveness vs. indistinctiveness for ideology, and professional vs. amateur for continuity of piracy. Based upon these different levels, the author of this paper argues that pirates can be conceptually categorized as SDP, SDA, SIP, SIA, NDP, NDA, NIP, and NIA types. This typology will allow researchers of pirates to distinguish between sea bandits around the world.