The Application of International Human Rights Law to Maritime Security Operations

Abstract

This thesis argues that international human rights law (IHRL), as represented by a selection of universal and regional human rights treaties, provides an important normative framework within which maritime security operations (MSOs) are to be conducted. MSOs are mounted by States to deal with a spectrum of maritime security threats, and comprise a range of activities of a nature potentially to affect or engage individual rights. These activities include the use of force, deprivation of liberty, the rescue of those in distress at sea, and transfer or expulsion to other States. In addition, the aim of a MSO may amount to a potential infringement of individual freedoms, such as in the case of the policing of protest at sea. Before examining the substantive rights that may be engaged through these activities, the thesis first considers the applicability of IHRL to MSOs conducted both within areas of the sea that are part of a State’s territory, as well as those that are not. It concludes that, notwithstanding differences between the treaties concerned, and some remaining areas of controversy, a plausible argument can be made for the applicability of IHRL to most of the activities that comprise MSOs, wherever they are conducted. An examination of substantive IHRL rules and norms then reveals that a range of rights are engaged in the course of MSOs. These include the right to life, the right to liberty and security of the person, the freedoms of expression and assembly, as well as the principle of non-refoulement. Although MSOs are subject to obligations under other bodies of law including, most notably, the law of the sea, IHRL provides a framework of regulation that is more comprehensive both in its breadth and in its detail. Although courts have sometimes recognised the unique features of the maritime domain when applying IHRL rules and norms to MSOs, it is demonstrated that their application can raise significant additional challenges in practice.