| Abstract [eng] |
This master thesis analyses offences on the high seas, their legal regulation, application of jurisdiction and issues. The first part of the thesis defines the specificity of the legal regulation of the high seas and presents the concept of crimes of an international nature and their distinction. It concludes that the peculiarity of the regime of the high seas, characterized by the fact that all the countries of the world have appropriate rights to use this territory, but do not have sovereignty over it, and the legal regulation of this regime, which has gaps, create favorable conditions for the commission of crime. The second part of the thesis specifically identifies four crimes of an international nature: environmental crime, violations of critical infrastructure, piracy and the illicit trade in drugs and guns, and presents the trend and the consequences of the crimes in question. It concludes that all these crimes are relevant today, in particular submarine cable offences. The third part of the thesis analyses the diversity of jurisdictions: the principle of the flag State, the exclusive rights of warships as special entities, the application of extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction and the application of universal criminal jurisdiction and the application of national law. The analysis shows that the international legal framework is not entirely adequate, as flag State jurisdiction is subject to “flag of convenience” or “double flag” problems, which make it difficult to apply the law properly. Also, the application of extraterritorial jurisdiction is complicated by the non-implementation of the mutual criminality clause on the high seas. While warships have special rights to enforce law and order at sea, this can lead to international conflicts due to the undefined concept of “sufficient grounds”. In national law, the principle of universal criminal jurisdiction is a theoretical one, as in practice it would not apply to breaches of critical infrastructure. Thus, considering the problems identified, both in the case of criminal offences and in international and national regulation, solutions have been put forward to strengthen the prevention of these offences and suggestions have been made for adjustments to the legal norms to ensure effective application of jurisdiction. |
