Bringing Pirates to Justice: A Case for Including Piracy within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court

This Article is concerned with the present failure of the international community to ensure that pirates are brought to justice and punished for violently attacking the ships and crews of many nationalities that pass through shared public sea lanes. Although nations have implemented a variety of measures aimed at disrupting piratical attacks-for example, by forming naval patrols that roam pirate-infested waters-such measures alone are not sufficient to deter all or most acts of piracy. Instead, pirate attacks are on the rise. Criminal prosecutions of pirates, however, could do much to deter and prevent future piratical attacks.

Therefore, this Article argues that piracy is a serious crime affecting the international community and investigates international legal solutions ripe for consideration. This Article further suggests that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the best international forum to bring an end to the culture of impunity that surrounds piracy offenses.