We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Game of Drones: Unmanned Maritime Vehicles and the Law of the Sea.
- Authors
BARTLETT, MATT
- Abstract
Unmanned maritime vehicles are revolutionising the navies of the world's most powerful states, as rapid scientific advances and prospective military advantages drive a global surge in 'roboticisation'. However, it is not clear how unmanned vehicles (also known as 'maritime drones') are governed by the Law of the Sea -- or whether they are even regulated at all. This article will conduct a legal analysis of maritime drones and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), along with supporting legal instruments. This analysis will suggest that there are serious ambiguities regarding the legal status of maritime drones. Most importantly, maritime drones may not fit the definition of "vessel" included in the text of UNCLOS and other instruments, meaning they are not covered by the vast majority of relevant provisions in the Law of the Sea. Even assuming maritime drones are vessels, there are other important provisions of the Law of the Sea regime that present difficulties for unmanned technology. In particular, many obligations imposed by instruments like UNCLOS, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) and the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) are specifically imposed on humans. Collectively, these ambiguities mean that the Law of the Sea regime does not govern maritime drones in a clear or predictable way. This article considers the risks of this legal uncertainty against a backdrop of ongoing technological advances and existing tensions in international relations. Particularly in the case of the South China Sea, misunderstandings and disagreements as to how maritime drones are governed by the Law of the Sea are inevitable. These misunderstandings risk destabilising maritime relations that are already fraught, especially as legal ambiguities undermine normal UNCLOS processes for dispute resolution. Given the seriousness and urgency of these risks, this article will argue for a new legal framework to provide clear rules for the use of maritime drones. Specifically, a formal convention and a less formal code of conduct are considered, along with the procedural barriers any new framework will have to overcome. While some of these barriers are considerable, it is clear that the existing Law of the Sea is unable to regulate maritime drones authoritatively. This raises timely and important questions about how international law should govern emerging technologies in the context of ongoing scientific advances and geopolitical instability.
- Subjects
DRONE aircraft; UNITED Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982); LAW of the sea; INTERNATIONAL law; MARITIME law
- Publication
Te Mata Koi: Auckland University Law Review, 2018, Vol 24, p66
- ISSN
0067-0510
- Publication type
Article