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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

24/07/22 06:55 AM IST

The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill

In News
  • Government has come up with Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill 2019 will bring the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea into domestic law and enable Indian authorities to take action against piracy on the high seas.
Provisions of the bill
  • Piracy is defined as an act of violence or detention by the crew or passengers of a private vessel or private aircraft on high seas, directed against another vessel or aircraft and/or people or property on board.
  • Extra-territorial Jurisdictions: The Bill will apply to the sea beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), that is, beyond 200 nautical miles from India’s coastline.
  • However, it is unclear if it will apply to the EEZ that extends between 12 and 200 nautical miles from the coast of India.
  • For committing acts of piracy, the convicts shall be punished with imprisonment for life or death in case the act of piracy itself causes the death or attempts to cause the death of another person.
  • Participating in or assisting acts of piracy will be punishable with up to 14 years of imprisonment and a fine.
  • Extraditable offences: This means that the accused can be transferred to any country for prosecution with which India has signed an extradition treaty.
  • Designated Court: The central government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, may notify the Sessions Courts to be the Designated Courts under this Bill.
  • The presumption of guilt will be on the accused if: (i) the accused is in possession of arms, explosives and other equipment which were used or intended for use in committing the offence, (ii) there is evidence of use of force against the ship’s crew or passengers, and (iii) there is evidence of the intended use of bombs and arms against the crew, passengers or cargo of a ship.
Key Issues 
  • Under the Bill, if a person, while committing an act of piracy causes or seeks to cause death, he will be punished with death.  This implies a mandatory death penalty for such offences.  The Supreme Court has held that mandatory death penalty for any offence is unconstitutional as it violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.   However, Parliament has passed laws providing for mandatory death penalty for some offences. 
  • The Bill provides for imprisonment of up to 14 years if a person participates in an act of piracy.  Committing an act of piracy (which includes voluntarily participating in the operation of a pirate ship or aircraft) is punishable with life imprisonment.  As these circumstances may overlap, it is unclear how the punishment would be determined in such cases. 
  • The Bill will apply to all parts of the sea adjacent to and beyond the limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India, i.e., beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline.  The question is whether the Bill should cover the EEZ also, that is the area between 12 nautical miles and 200 nautical miles (from the coastline of India).

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982):
  • It is an international agreement that establishes the legal framework for marine and maritime activities.
  • It divides marine areas into five main zones namely– Internal Waters, Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the High Seas.
  • It is a set of rules to govern the oceans and the use of their resources. It is based on the idea that all problems related to oceans are interrelated and need to be addressed by the global community as a whole.
  • UNCLOS governs all aspects of ocean space, including delimitation, environmental control, marine scientific research, economic and commercial activities, transfer of technology and the settlement of ocean-related disputes.
Source- PIB 

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