Insights on Somalia Piracy
The draft Somalia piracy resolution is expected to be put in blue today (Friday, 8 April). It is scheduled to be adopted on Monday, 11 April. Council members began negotiations on the draft resolution at expert level on 22 March following P5 discussions on the draft text earlier in the month.
There appears to have been little substantial change to the key elements in the earlier drafts of the resolution including the need to focus on legal aspects such as the need to criminalise piracy under domestic law, transfer agreements for suspected pirates and the need for assistance to increase prison capacity in Somalia. There is also a request to Somalia to complete a set of counter-piracy laws and to improve the collection and transmission of evidence of acts of piracy.
However, there were several issues that some members felt needed further study. One was the establishment of a court system to prosecute suspected pirates and the other was the establishment of an independent body to study the issue of protecting Somali resources.
As a result the resolution will request the Secretary-General to produce a report within two months on the modalities for implementing Jack Lang’s (the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia) recommendation on establishing a court system to prosecute suspected pirates and for another report in six months on how best to deal with the problem of illegal fishing and protection of Somali resources.
