PIRACY RANSOM – AN ANALYSIS OF LEGALITY IN COMPARISON WITH MARITIME TERRORISM

Abstract

Maritime piracy is a crime under international law and is dealt with in various legal instruments; chiefs among them are Geneva Convention, 1958 and UNCLOS. Even though international community have been discussing about the menace of piracy for ransom model for many years, none of the legal instruments manifestly assert the ransom payment to be contrary to international law. The ransom ban on piracy marks its origin from the concerns over the ransom payment for terrorist hijackings. This article has attempted to review the debate over the lines of demarcation between the acts of piracy and acts of terrorism. The article first analyses in depth the concepts of maritime piracy and terrorism and then discusses how they are fundamentally different from each other, then proceeds to identify why it is illegal to make ransom payments for terrorist hijackings, but at the same time legal for pirate hijackings, owing to the silence of international legal instruments. The article further delves into the reasoning for pro-ransom contentions and practical disadvantages of ransom ban. It finally proceeds to the policies adopted by various nations in this matter and concludes by asserting that piracy ransom payments are indeed lawful.