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(or in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state)…and
directed against the crew or passengers or property
onboard another ship..” Thus acts must be committed
for economic objectives, involve two vessels and occur
in international waters. Graham Ong’s argument that
‘motive’ can be open to interpretation and can be political
was raised by Czechoslovakia in the preceding debate
over the 1958 Geneva Convention of the High Seas,
when it voiced concern that acts of maritime terrorism
were not included in the UNCLOS definition.
UNCLOS definition of piracy is narrower in scope
than previous customary law definitions. Analysts believe
this is due to Southeast Asian states’ primary concern of
interference of maritime trade and economic aspects of
piracy as well as reflecting an unwillingness for states
to exercise jurisdiction over politically motivated acts
with no economic consequence. Interference in states’
sovereignty or territory issues further limits UNCLOS.
Nevertheless, UNCLOS was adopted and it soon
became clear it did not cover violent crimes at sea
making prosecution difficult. The 1985 hijacking and
attack on the passenger liner “Achille Lauro” is an
example. Attempts to address this issue through the
UN’s International Maritime Organisation, (IMO) resulted
in the promulgation of the Rome Convention in 1985.
The Rome Convention attempted to develop a legal
basis for prosecution of maritime violence not covered
by UNCLOS by inclusion of “...seizure or taking control
of a vessel by force or threat of force, to perform an act of
violence Y