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From ancient times, piracy has been known as an enemy of humanity and an international crime. One of the areas that has become the main center of piracy in recent years is the Gulf of Guinea . Due to the discovery and exploitation of rich oil resources, and the high traffic of oil tanker ships and other fishing and cargo ships, this area has been considered by pirates and has made maritime security confronted with a serious threat. According to statistics, between 2009 and 2021, about 265 cases of pirate attacks on ships have been reported in this region, which is regarded as the highest figure in the whole. The main question is, what are the effective causes of the creation and expansion of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea? And what solutions are there to confront this phenomenon? In response to this question, the hypothesis is that regional differences and the political, economic and social situations of the coastal states are the most important reasons in the spread of piracy in this region, and regional and extra-regional measures to confront it are inevitable. But the weakness of the countries in the region in securing the sea fleet, widespread unemployment, conflicts between countries in delimiting the borders of the sea, have made it difficult to fight against piracy in this region. The findings of this research show that identifying and eliminating the various factors involved in the occurrence of this crime depends on efforts beyond diplomatic cooperation. The lack of similarity between criminal measures and especially the obvious difference in the political conditions of the countries of the region compared to other regions facing the phenomenon of piracy, such as the case of the Gulf of Aden, makes it impossible to apply a similar solution to the Gulf of Guinea.

The crime of piracy as the oldest international crime has emerged in a modern way in recent years. In addition, piracy is one of the first and main crimes that have been subject to universal jurisdiction. Today, this crime has moved away from its classic way and has progressed to the point of a transformation. This has caused the United Nations Security Council, as the main pillar of maintaining international peace and security, to deal with it many times by issuing resolutions. Despite continuous efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of piracy in domestic courts, the international community has not been able to effectively deal with this phenomenon, because states are facing problems to suppress piracy, including the increasing human rights norms. For this purpose to fight against piracy, new and potential solutions have been proposed, including the establishment of a special international court, referring piracy to the International Criminal Court, as well as dealing with the crime of piracy as a terrorist crime through anti-terrorist conventions. In this regard, according to outcomes of this research, combat to modern piracy in the International Criminal Court can be considered the most effective and efficient way. Compiled with a descriptive and analytical method, by setting this outcome as a hypothesis and examining the characteristics and the limitations of combat to this crime, new and potential solutions of combat to impunity of modern piracy, especially in International Criminal Court, has been discussed.

The government of Iran has signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea1982, but in the past 40 years since Iran signed this convention and 28 years after the implementation of this convention in 1994, the government has always refused to approve this convention, which is the most important convention in the field of maritime and no plan or bill has been presented in the government or parliament for its approval. In this article, using the analytical descriptive method, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and legal doubts of Iran regarding this convention, which is actually the most important regulation in the field of the law of the sea, are examined and finally, a fundamental analysis is provided to resolve Iran's concerns in the direction of ratifying this convention. The results of this research show that Iran can enjoy its benefits such as maritime technology transfer and other benefits by joining this convention. In terms of the threats and weaknesses of this convention regarding the innocent passage of naval vessels in the territorial waters of Iran, it is possible to remove this threat as a precondition of prior notification and obtaining prior permission or both for the innocent passage from the territorial sea based on the practice of countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Sweden, Bulgaria, Poland and other countries. In the discussion of the Strait of Hormuz and the transit passage based on the provisions of the law of the sea Convention, by creating the non-suspendable innocent passage in peacetime, the weaknesses of this Convention regarding the internationalization of the Strait of Hormuz can be modified by creating a special regime for  the strait, considering that in The narrowest part of the Strait is the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, it is excluded from transit passage.                     

Today, arbitration has become the most popular means of resolving maritime disputes. Arbitration as a binding dispute resolution method is proposed and recognized in the seventh appendix of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. One of the important requirements of arbitration is the observance of fair proceedings, which according to the New York Convention of 1958 and the European Convention on Human Rights, is under judicial supervision at the stage of identifying and implementing arbitration decisions and at the stage of protesting the arbitration decision. Considering that arbitration is a type of private judgment, it is required to observe fair proceedings, as a human right, therefore, identifying the fair arbitration and guaranteeing the implementation of its non-compliance is of great importance. Identifying the principle of fair arbitration as a human right and guaranteeing its non-compliance in various cases, in order to violate the human rights of the parties, needs to be read. In the current research, with the analytical and descriptive method and using library sources and judicial procedure and according to the basics of human rights and international documents as well as international judicial procedure, the principle of fair arbitration to It has been recognized as an inalienable human right . And it can be said: the agreement on the cancellation of the right to object to the arbitration award has no effect on the possibility of requesting the annulment of the arbitration award due to non-compliance with the principles of fair arbitration. The request to cancel the arbitrator's decision that is outside the deadline can also be accepted by relying on the principles of fair arbitration, and in case of a request to implement the arbitrator's decision, the arbitrator's decision will not be able to be recognized and implemented.

During its historical life, the Caspian Sea has always been a safe place for many races, people, and governments. Unfortunately, humanity does not appreciate this valuable water zone and steps away consciously or unknowingly on the path to its destruction and demolition. Taking the path in this way is equal to obliterating the roots of the present generation and future generations. With the aim of evaluating the environmental security structure of the Caspian Sea, this research examines a new legal framework for this water zone. Moreover, the research also argued that the Caspian requires effective political and legal decision-making to achieve its ideal state both environmentally and economically or socially. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Caspian Sea was dominated by the two governments of Iran and the Soviet Union. The intense asymmetry between power and resources between the two countries led to the unofficial and actual control of the region in the hands of the Soviet Union.

On 15 February 2012, two Indian nationals aboard the St. Antony, an Indian fishing ship, were killed allegedly as a result of gunshot wounds following a confrontation with the Enrica Lexie, an Italian merchant ship, in international waters, off the Indian coast. The nature of the confrontation has been in contention. Enrica Lexie was traveling from Singapore to Egypt accompanied by six Italian navy marines. Enrica Lexie began firing at India's Exclusive Economic Zone because they thought pirate boats attacked them. Indian Navy detained the Enrica Lexie and two Italian navy Marines were arrested on charges of murder of two Indian fishermen. This incident caused the dispute between India and Italy over criminal jurisdiction, functional immunity of Italian navy marines, and the practice of arming merchant ships. They refer this dispute to arbitration and finally, Tribunal issued its award. This paper via the descriptive-analytical method, exploring existing documents, conventions, and customary international law shows that criminal jurisdiction over Italian merchant ships at EEZ belongs to the flag state. Most countries permit and even force to arm their flag merchant ships to fight against pirates, so this practice becomes a rule of customary international law. As a result, actions of these Italian marines are attributed to Italy as a governmental act, and state officials are entitled, in principle, to functional immunity from foreign jurisdiction regarding their ‘official’ acts, i.e., when acting in their official capacity.

Industry of navigation is one of the most important pillars of world’s economy so that According to statistics More than 90% percent of the world’s goods are transferred by merchant ship lines .According to the latest statistics of 2105, 10 billion tons of goods, equivalent to $ 4 trillion, have been transferred by sea and the global economy is dependent on maritime transport, and the lack of it is causing countries to face the crisis. Therefore the establishment of decent work in environments of merchant ships for seafarers has fundamental importance and inevitable effects on economic in national and international level. Merchant ships of the world that are registered in more than 150 countries employed approximately more than 1.5 million of seafarers and this industry also has 10,000 seamen In Iran that in general they considered as marine workers. This study using analytical – descriptive, consider the International Labor Standards and Decent Work factors with glance of maritime security and safety and IMO standard for People at sea.Findings of this study show that marine works are very hard and chore in terms of physical and mental effects. In fact the convention express fundamental rights and principles those seafarers faced in relation to condition of work and living on board of ship.Therefore seafarers have rights that should observe by ship owners and the state flag should confirm the situation of ships with the requirement of the convention. In principles as the skilled and experiment crew is one of the requirements of successful operation in modern ships the process of shortage and unsatisfied crew can hard effects on this industry especially on the secure operation of ship. In decent work, in addition to having a job, you will be entitled to the right Fundamental work, social support and social discourse are also discussed. In other words, the merit of a job is not only about having a job, but also a number of other factors in the work's competence, including the right to form civil formations of labor relations, the prohibition of discrimination in employment, the observance of the minimum age, the prohibition of child labor, the minimum wage proportional to the minimum subsistence The existence of social security, unemployment insurance, rehabilitation, empowerment of women through the acquisition of appropriate job opportunities and the existence of social dialogue between the employer, the employer and the government are also mandatory.

The southern part of the China Sea has been the site of one of the most important maritime disputes in five decades. Tensions are so high that some predict World War III will break out in the region. The Philippines's referral for arbitration in respect of some of its disputes with China resulted in the issuing of a 2016 arbitration award. The legal and political significance of this Award has caused debates among scholars. The legality of the Award and the validity of the court's arguments in various positions are among the topics of these discussions.  In this study, our main question is how much this award has contributed to resolving and clarifying the legal aspects of the maritime disputes between the parties. Our secondary question is the impact of this Award on regional and international peace. The findings of this study indicate that the arbitral tribunal's approach has a significant impact on understanding the concept of "historical rights" as well as the explanation and interpretation of marine environmental protection provisions in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. In the tribunal's view, by joining the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the rules concerning maritime zones, except in rare cases, override the historical rights of States. It also played an important role in defining and explaining various maritime features; including islands, rocks, and low-tide elevations. However, the effect of the award on reducing tensions in the southern part of the China Sea, Chinese government policies, and Regional peace is in doubt.

In today's world, countries choose to pursue their own interests in foreign policy, the most common and least cost of which is diplomacy, which, as an independent tool, is widely used in intergovernmental relations. In the discussion of environmental problems and protection of the marine environment, diplomacy is also considered a tool to advance the goals and interests of governments. In this article, the descriptive and analytical method of environmental diplomacy from conflict to cooperation is studied and analyzed. This research seeks to explain the pattern in the context of environmental diplomacy from conflict to cooperation. The findings of this study indicate that environmental challenges both on land and in the seas and oceans arise from climate change, changing rainfall patterns, expanding industry and agriculture, population growth, reducing resources, and increasing conflicts over natural resources and foundations. Biological, exploitation of natural resources in the form of deforestation, Desertification and uncontrolled marine hunting, use of various toxins to combat plant and animal pests to disturb the ecological balance and degradation of the aquatic and terrestrial environment on a local, regional, national, regional and global scale. Therefore, the need for environmental diplomacy to identify common threats and dangers to the global environment and efforts in the form of common commitments and to deal with these threats and dangers and to protect the environment and resources on Earth, the need for environmental diplomacy is inevitable. Environmental protection is also essential for the sustainable development of the seas. From this perspective, maritime and environmental diplomacy complements macro-diplomacy and provides policymakers with a wide range of tools and options. Finally, the activation of maritime and environmental diplomacy is an effective step towards sustainable development, especially sustainable maritime development in coastal countries.

The sea pathways are extensively considers as a way to reach a safe zone for the forced people, who their lives are threatened for many reasons. A large number of the irregular migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are drowned daily in the sea, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. The numbers of the deaths are worrying and alarming. It requires urgent and effective actions by States to prevent this disastrous human crisis. This paper through descriptive and analytical research method through a qualitative research examines the international legal framework for the protection of irregular migrants, asylum seekers and refugees’ rights and focuses on two essential rights of their rescue at sea and its related right of non-refoulement. The paper concludes that the security and military ironic measures of the coastal States, particularly those of certain European States, are considered as a serious risk for the rights of the people trafficked through the sea in order to be moved from the place of danger to a safe zone. Accordingly, States must play a more responsible role in assisting and protecting the desperate irregular, asylum seekers and refugees at sea in order to guarantee their fundamental rights.

The oceans which cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface contain the most biologically diverse ecosystems on earth, we depend on the seas for our survival since they support life on earth. They are also essential for our economic prosperity, social well-being, and quality of life. Yet the marine environment is deteriorating fast. We need to find better ways of managing it. Over the last decade, significant advances in citizen science have occurred, allowing projects to extend areas beyond national jurisdiction. Perhaps, however, our greatest challenges are those that exist in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), where management is reliant on international agreements and enforcement is likely to need remote monitoring methods using satellite technologies. In view of this development, the aim of this article is to provide some information on marine scientific research and examines the applicability of the marine scientific research (MSR) regime of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). However, the MSR regime of UNCLOS is far from absolute freedom, it is conditional on responsibilities including, for example, providing the legal basis for setting up obligations such as conservation and sustainable use of the environment. The article concludes by outlining some of the issues that should play important role in the process of research.

The conflict between sovereignty over parts of the sea and the necessity of "innocent passage" concept has been the most contentious field in the law of the sea." Two hypotheses in this field have collided in the history of international law of the sea. The first hypothesis is that every human possesses the seas together. "Navigation" and other operations are also allowed for all. Under the excuse of owning the sea, no state has the right to restrict other people's use. However, the second theory says that the sea is owned by someone who controls part of it, and its use can be limited. In international law, the "innocent passage" by foreign vessels from the territorial sea of a country is widely recognized. However, in some territories, the requirements for the "innocent passage" of military vessels include the need for prior notice or the coastal state's permission. Most forces, led by the US, believe in absolute freedom of the military vessel's "innocent passage." However, most Asian countries, including Iran, assume that they can prior notification or approval for a foreign military vessel passage. This activity was often resisted in operational as well as diplomatic phases by naval forces such as the United States. 

Exploitation, Exploration and Extraction of the Area resources are subject to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea are bound by its provisions to develop the Area economic activities. All states have a duty to prevent harm to the environment including the marine environment. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has general and ambiguous rules for the support of member states for the operation of sponsored contractors in Area. States are worried that they would be liable by sponsoring contractors from their Area’s actions. Eliminating the ambiguity of this concern is issue of Advisory Opinion that has been requested from the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal Law of the Sea to interpret the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The main question is what are the obligations of the Sponsoring State in supporting the activities of the contractor in the Area based on Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal Law of the Sea’s Advisory Opinion? Research findings show that Judges interpret the main concepts outlined in Part XI and XII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including due diligence, obligation to ensure, and obligation to achieve, argued that the Sponsoring State’s obligations to the Sponsored Contractor’s activities are obligation to ensure. The Sponsoring State advocates for the contractor to comply with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the contracting parties, use appropriate instruments and endeavor to achieve maximum results and achieve these goals. Under these conditions, the responsibility for the damage by Sponsored Contractor to the Area environment is not borne to the Sponsoring State.

Environmental risks and conflicts in the framework of the relations between countries and subsequently their role-playing in interaction and collaboration or conflicts and struggles between political actors especially in the level of states have reproduced serious discussions and disputes on the environment, security, and power which are interpreted as environmental geopolitics or ecopolitics by modern political geography. Geographically, the Persian Gulf is a semi-enclosed sea that has a very low capacity of self-dredging in comparison to that of high seas; hence, it retains the pollutants for longer periods of time. Some of its environmental problems arise from the various activities of the people residing along the northern and southern shores. If the situation is exacerbated by the factors such as oil and its subsequent pollutions, militarism and its subsequent destruction, desalination of seawater, and the construction of artificial islands, one can conclude that regional convergence between the countries neighboring this body of water in the process of bioregionalism would be of an essential necessity. According to the research findings, states acting in the geopolitical region of the Persian Gulf to produce power, security and to sustain them, from one hand, and to protect this shared aquatic ecosystem in the event of sustainable development, from the other hand, should mobilize all collective cooperations and operationalize the bioregionalism in regional and supranational scales.

Today, advances in science and technology have increased human power to change the environment; This situation has endangered human survival. Sustainable development is one of the solutions to solve this challenge. The emphasis of sustainable development is on intergenerational commitment and intergenerational and intergenerational justice, quality of life and participation of individuals in the development process. Since international judicial authorities play an important role in the development of international law, it is important to address the jurisprudence of these courts in the context of sustainable development and its principles. This article analyzes some of the rulings of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and states that in its decisions of the last two decades, the Court has made good use of the principles of sustainable development and revealed the normative element of the concept of sustainable development. The rulings of this court indicate the establishment of the position of these principles in the practice of this institution and its positive approach to the rights of future generations, while defending the interests of the current generation.

The concerns of the international community regarding the potential environmental crisis for future generations have being increased arising out of the intensification of the challenges and threats to the marine environment as well as diminution of the biological resources as a result of the aggregation of harmful human activities over the maritime zones. At the same time, conservation, sustainable use and governance of the oceans through the application of the rule of law is one of the most important issues that have been at the forefront of the international community's endeavor dealing with law of the sea and ocean affairs. The United Nations General Assembly in order to resolve the challenges of the existing legal framework governing marine biodiversity has established a legally binding instrument for conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction known as the BBNJ process within the framework of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The present paper, while considering the basic foundations of the existing international legal framework applicable to marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, describes the strengths and weaknesses of the current legal framework in order to improve the ongoing international legally binding instrument concerning BBNJ and will pursue the monitoring of the ongoing process from international law perspectives.

Maritime transport has become significant as the backbone of global trade and, consequently, globalization, which is the basis of the globalizing project of the economy, which, with an attitude of dependence on the development of countries and the international maritime trade, lends more importance to maritime trade. Securing maritime trade, with the emergence of recent insecurity as the most important concern for the countries that benefit from this, is one of the most important options for world trade due to its high transport capability, low cost and ease of transportation. As a result of the vast dependence of countries on maritime trade, there are various problems, such as piracy and environmental pollution, which, in turn, has become a global downfall. Modern piracy has new patterns. Although the nature of the crime is the very essence of this activity, the context for replacing these changes is to be considered. Piracy and robbery not only can stop the logistics chain from leading to economic consequences, but also it will lead to the loss of life, short-term and long-term health problems for seafarers and travelers; the consequences that require more analysis. In this article, we have tried to investigate the history of piracy and analyze the pathology of this global problem and provide solutions for the issue.

The global issue of Sustainable marine fisheries is considered as common concern to humankind. The emergence and persistence of noncompliant fisheries practices conveniently labelled ‘Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing’ (IUU fishing), is of particular concern for the international community, regional fisheries management organizations and coastal states. The International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in its first full-bench Advisory Opinion in 2015 found that Arts. 62(4), 58(3), 192 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) contain obligations for a flag state to ensure that vessels flying their flags do not engage in illegal fishing in the exclusive economic zones of coastal states. By this explanation, the Advisory Opinion initially has clarified the inadequate international fisheries law regime through ITLOS interpretive approach, which this paper attempts to examine by applying an exact legal scrutiny. The framework set by the Tribunal may allow States affected by IUU fishing, to exert greater pressure on flag states, particularly flag states of convenience, that do not comply with their responsibilities under UNCLOS. This paper suggests that the regulations on IUU fishing under international law should be enhanced and revised in order to draw an appropriate solution suitable for sustainable fisheries management.

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was faced with the issue of maritime security against terrorist incidents. Accordingly, it adopted the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) in December 2002 as part of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 1974- as amended) in order to increase maritime security through fulfilling its regulations by Contracting Governments. This Code, entered into force on 1 July 2004, provides a set of regulations for ship and port facility security. The first part of this paper focuses on the introduction and analysis of the key regulations of the ISPS Code. The second part of this paper focuses on the successful practices of two Contracting Governments, namely Malaysia and South Korea. Accordingly, this paper evaluates the enforcement of the regulations of the ISPS Code by concentrating on these two countries in East Asia in order to measure the effectiveness of the Code in enhancing maritime security of these two countries. This paper concludes that to achieve the objectives of the ISPS Code, all Contracting Countries should fully implement its regulations and for achieving a higher standards in maintaining maritime security they are advised to take advantage of the experiences and practices of such successful countries as Malaysia and South Korea in fulfilling the regulations of the ISPS Code. The research method applied in this paper is based on the descriptive - analytical method.

Today, there is a need for a new approach toward the sea and sea-based sustainable development. Alfred Mahan, by presenting the theory of Sea Power, made the politicians pay special attention to the sea and navigation. To present the theory of Maritime Civilization, a theory building framework was used. The framework includes three steps, from the Descriptive stage (Observation, Categorization, and Association), to the Normative stage, based on the theoretical basis of the research. The present study, while confirming the positive points of the Alfred Mahan''s Sea Power theory, criticized the nature of thoughts behind the theory. By extracting the necessary terms from literature and research background confirming the positive and negative points of the Sea Power theory and by considering the framework of theory building in Management Science research, a theory called "Maritime Civilization" was presented instead of the Sea Power theory. The results of the study indicated that Sea Power theory has good positive points, however, Alfred Mahan''s approach to the sea is an authoritarian and domineering perspective that, firstly, contradicts values and ethics; secondly, the present discussions about sustainable development and the Green Environment criticize the Sea Power theory. Thus, the theory of Maritime Civilization is presented, according to which the maritime civilization is a civilization in which the intellectual, scientific, industrial, social, economic and political movements are created in conjunction with the sea and the marine environment. Using a set of capacities and resources, this civilization seeks to enjoy a sustainable sea exploitation in order to turn the human and the marine community into a peaceful community. This is a preliminary theory, and for assessing its validity, the views of five experts from the Marine Science universities were used, which necessitates further investigation by other researchers in the future