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Sea Watch v. Ministero Delle Infrastrutture E Dei Transporti (C.J.E.U.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2023

Garrett Giffin
Garrett Giffin*
Affiliation:
J.D. Candidate, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, United States.
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Extract

On August 1, 2022, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) published its judgment on the joined cases of Sea Watch eV against the Italian Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Transporti, the Capitaneria (Harbor Master's Office) di Porto di Palermo, and the Capitaneria di Porto di Porto Empedocle. The Court of Justice's judgment clarifies EU law regarding the additional inspection and detention of a private humanitarian assistance ship. A port state must make a reasonable and justified decision to conduct additional inspections or to detain a ship. The port state must base its decision on serious indications of dangerous operation. However, interpreting the EU law alongside the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the Court of Justice held that a port state cannot justify such additional inspections solely based on an excess of passengers beyond a ship's classification or certifications when that ship is rendering assistance to rescued individuals.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 62 , Issue 6 , December 2023 , pp. 1025 - 1061
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

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References

ENDNOTES

1 Joined Cases C-14/21 and C-15/21, Sea Watch eV v. Ministero dele Infrastrutture e dei Transporti ECLI:EU:C:2022:604 (Aug. 1, 2022) [hereinafter Sea Watch].

2 Id. ¶ 48.

3 2009 O.J. (L 131) 57 [hereinafter Directive].

4 Sea Watch at ¶ 77.

5 Id. ¶ 74.

6 Id. ¶ 86.

7 Sea Watch at ¶ 112; Directive, annex I, part II, points 2A & 2B.

8 Sea Watch at ¶ 116.

9 Id. ¶¶ 114, 117.

10 Sea Watch at ¶¶ 105, 124.

11 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea art. 98, opened for signature Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397.

12 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea art. IV(b), Sept. 7, 1978, 32 U.S.T. 47 (“Persons who are on board a ship by reason of force majeure or in consequence of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked or other persons shall not be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the application to a ship of any provisions of the present Convention.”); Sea Watch at ¶¶ 107, 124.

13 Id. ¶ 126.

14 Id. ¶ 133.

15 Id. ¶ 138.

16 Id. ¶ 147.

17 Id. ¶ 159.

18 Id.