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In recent years, piracy has emerged as a significant threat to global mar- itime interests. The International Maritime Bureau reports 223 acts ofpiracy in the year 2012, as of 30th Au- gust. While the incidence of Somali piracy has reduced, disproportionate in- creases have been recorded in other parts of the world, such as Nigeria, the Gulf of Guinea, Togo and South East Asia. Piracy is a growing industry. A host of laws have been formulated to tackle the problem. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has es- tablished the legal definition of piracy in international law. UNCLOS does not, however, provide for investigatory or prosecutorial procedures or guidelines forinternational co-operation. It accords uni-versal jurisdiction for piracy; any state is authorised to prosecute the crime ofpiracy committed on the high seas. The Convention for the Suppression of Un- lawful Acts against the Safety of Mar- itime Navigation, 1988 obliges contracting governments to either extra- dite or prosecute alleged offenders. The 1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages requires contract- ing states to criminalise the taking ofhostages. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has published modellaws on mutual assistance in criminal matters, witness protection, extradition and money-laundering and financing of terrorism that focus on the substantive obligations arising from international conventions. States may use the model laws as a starting point while drafting their own laws on the subject. Universal jurisdiction does not apply when crimes are committed in territorialwaters. It does not allow authorities to pursue pirates to their sanctuaries withinterritorial limits or on land. In order toprosecute piracy offences domestically, a state needs to criminalise the offence. Model legislation helps domestic legal systems to reform their substantive law and to prosecute in a manner consistentwith international law. Reports state that hundreds of Somalipirates are currently incarcerated in othercountries, awaiting trial. Many of these countries have not yet criminalized piracy and the pirates are charged with general crimes such as armed robberyand attempt to murder. Often, the pirates are quietly released on the high seas toreduce congestion in local jails and theburden on the legal system. Efforts to bring pirates to justice in do- mestic courts have foundered due to var- ious legal and practical challenges. Not all countries mete out the same punish-ment. Kuwait and the Republic of Korea, among others, have imposed the death penalty. Countries that impose less severe sentences are reluctant to extradite pirates to these countries for trial. Other factors that affect domestic trials are a lack of clarity with respect to the steps that cap-turing ships must take so as not to breach the pirates? human rights and difficulties in preserving and transporting evidence. Countries such as Denmark have sought to address some of these problems by is-suing guidelines to naval vessels on col- lection of evidence and communication between authorities in order to support aprosecution for piracy. Overseeing a prosecution can be costly and logistically challenging and this hascontributed to a general reluctance to prosecute. In 2010, the EU?s Atalanta anti-piracy force stormed a ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates. As the crew of the ship included two Germans, the pi- rates were extradited to Germany for trial. A regional court in Hamburg com- menced a highly publicized trial of the pi-rates in November 2010. A battery of lawyers, expert witnesses and Somali language interpreters are trying to extract information from the defendants regard- ing the shadowy figures behind them ? the individuals who oversee this form of organized crime. Reports state that the cost of the trial is EUR35,000 for eachday that the court is in session and al-though more than 100 days of court-timehave elapsed, the court has not yet man- aged to elicit any useful information. It appears that the defendants are mere footsoldiers from the skiffs as opposed to the kingpins who finance, arm and run the pi- rate network. The foot soldiers are not privy to information of any value regard- ing the networks. Germans are asking whether the defendants will live in So- malia or Germany after serving their prison terms ? there is an understandablereluctance to face the potential asylum claims, since if granted, the pirates willlive in Germany at public expense. The Financial Action Task Force has examined the money flows connected with organized piracy for ransom. It is es- timated that of the $238 million in ran-som money reportedly paid to Somali pirates in 2010, approximately $95 mil-lion was pumped into the international fi- nancial system. This has exposed the financial system to the risks and vulnera- bilities associated with money-launder- ing and financing of terrorism. Much has been said of links between Somali pi-rates, the al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist organization and other terrorist groups operating in the Horn of Africa. Reports indicate that the formal financial system and banks in particular have played a prominent role in the movement of funds. There is a need to detect, inves- tigate and prosecute this kind of money- laundering so that the ring-leaders andfinanciers of acts of piracy are held ac- countable. This requires a high degree of international co-operation between thecountries involved, involving law en- forcement agencies, financial investiga- tors and the judiciary. In many cases, there has been a complete failure to co- operate internationally that has resultedin the trail going cold. In a few cases, the ransom money has been successfully traced due to the co-operation of investi- gating law enforcement agencies. How- ever, bringing the perpetrators to book requires information of evidentiary value to the judicial system of the prosecutingcountry and more often than not, theavailable information does not pass muster and the offenders escape scot free. The recent reduction in the incidence ofSomali piracy has been on account of the concerted effort of the international navies that patrol the seas and the in- creased use of armed security personnelaboard ships transiting through the re-gion. This has brought down the success rate of pirate attacks. However, piracy cannot be eradicated solely by a mar- itime-focused effort. The socio-economic reality is that the average Somali has an annual income of $200. With few other sources of income, piracy has become embedded in Somali society to the pointthat it is a significant driver of local economies. Since there is little chance ofthose engaged in piracy being caught and punished, there is no effective deterrent. Government institutions, law enforce- ment and judicial structures are frag-mented or non-existent. It is almost impossible to track the movement of ransom payments in Somalia and whendetected, to successfully prosecute casesof piracy. The UN and the international community have done much to rebuild the collapsed Somali governance infra- structure. Efforts to build capacity in So- malia include setting up and training adomestic police force, building court rooms and prisons, training and equip-ping prosecutors and the judiciary andproviding legal resources. It is hoped that Somali pirates will eventually be suc- cessfully prosecuted and serve their sen- tences in Somalia. There are lessons to be learned fromSomalia. A long-term solution to piracy will require capacity-building at the do- mestic level and adding value to local economies. Since increasing the numberof pirate prosecutions is a key part of counter-piracy efforts, a future prosecu- tion strategy should include providing support to those states that have crimi- nalized piracy and that demonstrate a willingness to prosecute pirates. Interna- tional and domestic anti money-launder- ing laws must be strengthened and countries must co-operate to bring thefinanciers and ring-leaders of piracy to justice. Currently, the overlap between the various regimes is itself a major bar- rier to effective policy co-ordination. Working on these issues will make the global anti-piracy regime more compre- hensive and focused. 18Maritime Reporter & Engineering News MARITIME SECURITYHow to Catch a PirateNiyati Nathis a partner at Indian law firm, J. Sagar Associates. She special- izes in maritime laws, private equityand dispute resolution.MR#12 (18-25):MR Template 12/3/2012 11:54 AM Page 18