Study On International Rules Of Maritime Blockade

Generally speaking,maritime blockade refers to the naval warfare mode in which the blockade country declares and controls military forces to implement blockade,intercepts and captures ships in the blockade area by blocking maritime traffic in the blockade area,so as to control sea power and win the purpose of war.The international rules of maritime blockade have been formed and developed in the practice of naval warfare of maritime powers in the 19 th century,and show their own characteristics in the process of contemporary improvement.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this paper is divided into five chapters.The first chapter combs the historical origin and formation of international rules of maritime blockade.The legal basis of maritime blockade originates from the belligerent rights of states.Since the 16 th century,driven by multiple factors such as technology,politics and economy,maritime blockade,as a means of hindering enemy traffic and controlling enemy routes,has been frequently used in all kinds of naval battles.In 1584,the Netherlands announced the blockade of the port of Flanders under the control of Spain,which was the initial practice of maritime blockade.Limited by the naval strength at that time,the virtual blockade implemented by the maritime powers led by the Netherlands and Britain through the announcement was the main form of early maritime blockade operations.Virtual blockade advocates a wide range of capture rights away from the actual blockade line,so its legitimacy has been questioned.With the continuous clarification of the neutrality system,the principle of effectiveness of maritime blockade has sprouted.The Paris Declaration on Naval Warfare in 1856 formally established the principle of effectiveness of maritime blockade,making it the core element of the international rules of maritime blockade.In addition,there have long been British and French positions on international rules such as notification,scope of implementation and destruction of maritime blockade.At the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century,in order to deal with the turbulent international situation,countries actively promoted the compilation of war laws and regulations,and the London Declaration Concerning the Laws of Naval War in 1909 was issued.The London Declaration Concerning the Laws of Naval War stipulates that the maritime blockade must be implemented fairly,emphasizes that the effectiveness of the blockade is a matter of fact,and restricts the notification,scope and destruction of the capture right under the blockade.It is a very detailed maritime blockade code and constitutes an important carrier of the international rules of maritime blockade.The London Declaration Concerning the Laws of Naval War failed to take effect due to the opposition of Britain.Since then,the chaotic social pattern and complex war situation in the two world wars have had a certain impact on the maritime blockade law which has begun to take shape.The main feature of the development of international rules of maritime blockade in this period was that the Allies implemented long-distance blockade against the German combat area and took retaliation as the legitimacy basis of action.In the test of war practice,the maritime blockade law has formed a basic rule and system to balance the interest game between belligerents and neutral countries.The second chapter expounds the evolution direction of the international rules of maritime blockade in contemporary international armed conflicts.After the Second World War,the Charter of the United Nations laid the tone for the peaceful settlement of disputes by the international community,but the maritime blockade did not disappear in state practice.In terms of national practice,the restricted zone system in the 1982 Falklands War was regarded as a contemporary deformation of the maritime blockade,which triggered a discussion on the international rules of the restricted zone system.In terms of legal norms,the San Remo Institute of international humanitarian law of Italy drafted the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea in 1994.The manual compiles the international law of armed conflict at sea,including some developing legal provisions and restatements of current laws.Most of the rules on maritime blockade are regarded as customary law and have universal binding force.Thus,customary law has become the main form of international rules of maritime blockade.In addition,the influence of international humanitarian law on the international rules of maritime blockade is the focus of the evolution of the rules in the contemporary era.With the development and perfection of the Geneva Convention system,international humanitarian law has become the most important legal branch in the field of armed conflict.In recent practice,the international community has focused its attention on the consideration of humanitarian factors in the implementation of maritime blockade.In fact,the regulation of maritime blockade by international humanitarian law has gone through a controversial process.Out of respect for the traditional rules of naval warfare,during the drafting process of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts(Protocol I),maritime countries did not actively advocate the application of relevant rules in maritime blockade.With the continuous improvement of international humanitarian law and the continuous attention to humanitarian aspects in war practice,the impact of international humanitarian law on maritime blockade practice is increasing day by day.The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea clearly cites humanitarian elements into the international rules of maritime blockade,which is an active attempt of legal codification.In addition,the principle of proportionality and the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law are also applicable to maritime blockade.Nowadays,whether the relevant rules of international humanitarian law can be met constitutes the main standard to test the legality of maritime blockade.The third chapter examines the application of international rules on maritime blockade in non-international armed conflicts.In the theoretical origin of international law,the system of belligerent groups is recognized as the legal basis of belligerent rights in non-international armed conflicts.Recognizing that the belligerent group system was widely recognized in the maritime blockade during the American Civil War,it is still an important basis for the implementation of maritime blockade in contemporary non international armed conflicts.At present,it is increasingly rare to recognize the application of the belligerent group system,while the combat practice of maritime blockade appears more in non-international armed conflicts,which leads to the dilemma of applying the international rules of maritime blockade in non-international armed conflicts.Under the tone of the unification of the law of armed conflict,the application of international rules of maritime blockade in non-international armed conflicts is the premise of legal evaluation of maritime blockade.On the one hand,as far as the belligerents in non-international armed conflicts are concerned,the implementation of maritime blockade should comply with the provisions of blockade effectiveness,notification,humanitarian principles and so on.On the other hand,as far as belligerents and external countries are concerned,the factual intensity of armed conflict determines the degree of derogation of rights in wartime that the latter may tolerate.Therefore,relevant rules should be applied based on the facts of maritime blockade in order to measure the legitimacy of maritime blockade in non-international armed conflicts.In this regard,the maritime blockade law can well balance the rights of the home government,non-state armed actors and external countries,and regulate the behavior of all parties.The fourth Chapter discusses the international rules of maritime blockade in peacetime.Maritime blockade,a traditional form of war,also exists in peacetime.Peacetime blockade refers to the maritime blockade implemented in peacetime.The blockade country does not officially declare war,but blocks the maritime trade of the blockaded country by closing the specific ports or regions of the blockaded country,so as to achieve the economic,diplomatic,political and other purposes of the blockaded country.The legal basis of maritime blockade originates from the belligerent rights of States,so the emergence of peacetime blockade practice is accompanied by disputes.In peacetime,blockades are mostly expressed in the form of sanctions imposed by large countries,and in practice,collective intervention against illegal acts is taken as the basis of their legitimacy.After the Second World War,it was difficult to provide a legal basis for peacetime blockade under the constraints of the principle of the prohibition of the use of force and the threat of force in the Charter of the United Nations.Since then,the maritime blockade authorized by the United Nations Security Council has replaced the usual blockade in history and become an important means of sanctions under the Charter of the United Nations.The maritime blockade under the Charter of the United Nations is based on the collective security system,takes into account the characteristics of flexibility and stability,and is mostly expressed as military measures in peacetime.Its legal basis originates from the explicit authorization of the Security Council.In addition,the maritime blockade authorized by the Security Council often has a large degree of autonomy,so it is not necessarily bound by the international rules of maritime blockade.On the contrary,it will not have a substantive impact on the evolution of the international rules of maritime blockade.The fifth chapter looks forward to the recent development of international rules of maritime blockade.Technical factors are the prerequisite for the scale of maritime blockade operations,and technological innovation has promoted the evolution of international rules of maritime blockade.The technical elements of maritime blockade are embodied in ship navigation,maritime reconnaissance and surveillance,applicable weapons,boarding inspection and so on.It belongs to an operation mode with comprehensive technical requirements in naval operations.At present,the application of unmanned maritime systems in maritime blockade is a representative practice of new technology affecting blockade.The premise of discussing the application of unmanned maritime systems in naval warfare needs to clarify the legal status.In the context of international law of armed conflict at sea,it can be regarded as an auxiliary ship or autonomous weapon to apply relevant laws.In addition,the regulations on new weapons and technologies in the international law of armed conflict at sea and even the international law of armed conflict are of course applicable to maritime blockade,reflecting the technical elements in the international rules of maritime blockade.Since the regulation of military technologies such as new weapons involves sensitive topics such as disarmament,it is difficult to form unified rules under the international law system.Therefore,the flexible interpretation and effective implementation of existing rules and principles is a necessary way to solve this dilemma.On the other hand,the new technology makes it possible for new blockade operations such as airspace blockade and network blockade.The relevant provisions based on the international rules of maritime blockade can be applied to airspace and even cyberspace of nonphysical operations.Airspace blockade is regarded as an appropriate extension of maritime blockade,while network blockade leads to the uncertainty of rules due to its virtual characteristics.In the current practice and development,integrating the relevant rules of airspace blockade and network blockade is an important topic under the blockade law system.The blockade law system has its own characteristics,which is essentially a balance of the rights of belligerents and neutral states.Therefore,taking the international rules of maritime blockade as the origin and borrowing the traditional rules to deal with the increasingly changeable blockade practice should be regarded as a feasible way.On this basis,in terms of the improvement direction of the international rules of maritime blockade,the impact of peacetime international law represented by international environmental law and international human rights law on maritime blockade can not be ignored.Environmental protection in armed conflict is a new focus of international legal circles.The environmental factors in the international rules of maritime blockade are the balance between the specific obligations under international environmental law and the rights of belligerents in maritime blockade.For this,the existing rules fail to provide clear standards.At the same time,the application of international human rights law in armed conflict has become a widely accepted view.The maritime blockade involves the extraterritorial application of international human rights law and the principle that special law is superior to general law.International human rights law tends to provide more detailed provisions,so its impact on maritime blockade constitutes a potential element in the development of international rules of maritime blockade.