Pirates (Again)

Pirates have captured a supertanker with a cargo worth $100 mil. Kenneth Anderson has an interesting appraisal of the legal dynamics of the situation at Opinio Juris. A minor, but interesting observation, among many others:

There are obviously many serious international law questions here. But I would also flag in advance that we law of wars lawyers need to bear in mind - I include myself emphatically in this admonition - that we have focused almost entirely on the law of land warfare, and that the law of armed conflict on the seas is its own distinct body of law and doctrine. Big mistake to assume that, as a legal matter, it is the same.

Read all of it here.