ANTI-PIRACY
ACT - DEFENCE & SECURITY
News:
Anti-piracy Act has been
a great enabler: Navy chief
What's
in the news?
●
Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar said that
the Maritime Anti Piracy Act, enacted in 2022, has been a “great enabler”, and
is one of the reasons why we have been successful, said on the new law as the
Indian Navy completed 100 days of ‘Operation Sankalp’ in the Gulf of Aden to
the North Arabian Sea and to the East Coast of Somalia.
Maritime
Anti-Piracy Act:
●
It was passed by the Parliament in 2022 to
give effect to the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides a framework for
combating piracy and armed robbery at sea.
●
India
ratified UNCLOS in 1995.
Highlights
of the Act:
Definition
of Piracy:
●
The Act defines piracy as “any illegal act
of violence, detention or destruction committed against a ship, aircraft,
person or property, for private purposes, by the crew or passengers of a
private ship or aircraft”.
High
Seas:
●
The provisions of this Act shall apply to
the high seas.
●
For the purposes of this clause, high seas
include the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India, the EEZ of any other State,
as well as all waters beyond the jurisdiction of any other State, i.e.
international waters.
Arrest
of Persons and Seizure of Ship and Property:
●
The authorised personnel may, either
generally or on suspicion that a ship is engaged in piracy on the high seas,
board such ship and arrest the persons
or seize the pirate ship and property on board.
Offences
and Penalties:
An act of piracy will be punishable with:
●
Imprisonment for life
●
Death, if the act of piracy causes or
attempts to cause death.
Extraditable
Offences:
●
Offences will be considered extraditable.
This means that the accused can be transferred to any country for prosecution
with which India has signed an
extradition treaty.
●
In the absence of such treaties, offences
will be extraditable on the basis of reciprocity between the countries.
Jurisdiction
of the Courts:
●
The central government, in consultation
with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, may notify Sessions Courts as the Designated
Courts under this Act.
●
The Designated Court will try offences
committed by:
○
A person in the custody of the Indian Navy
or Coast Guard, regardless of his nationality.
○
A citizen of India, a resident foreign
national in India, or a stateless person.
●
Warships
and government-owned ships employed for non-commercial purposes will not be
under the jurisdiction of the Court.