This report will first consider problems related to ‘the peaceful uses’ of the oceans by governments, and their security forces, especially when operating outside of territorial waters. It also addresses a range of security concerns, including protection against threats directed at legitimate commercial and recreational uses. These threats may involve not only many types of illegal trade but also disregard for environmental standards, various types of unsafe practices and criminal violence. In this review of issues, the principal focus is on the minimization of recourse to force and on provisions that promote security for all legitimate users.

THE ORIGINS OF THE DEBATE

Concern for peace and security in the oceans is as old as the use of the oceans, with societies devising their own customs and practices aimed at providing required safeguards. However, the modern approach to peace and security in the oceans dates back to the first decade of the seventeenth century, when the Dutch East India Company recruited a young Dutch jurist, Hugo Grotius, to defend its seizure of a Portuguese treasure galleon when it passed through the Strait of Malacca.

The Portuguese contended that the sea, like the land, was subject to the exclusive dominion of sovereign states, a position that, at the time, was shared by such powers as Spain, Denmark, the Ottoman Empire, and the city states of Genoa and Venice.