20 December 2023
A Duty to Rescue
Reports of migrants drowning in the Mediterranean have, unfortunately, become more and more frequent in recent years. A recently published MSF report has highlighted the role ‘pushbacks and systematic non-assistance to those at risk of drowning proliferate’ play in this regard. The report refers specifically to two events that happened in 2023 in which national authorities failed to launch rescue operations despite receiving the information on migrants in distress at sea hours before the tragedy. In this blogpost, we assess whether a coast guard’s failure to act in situations of migrants in distress might violate an incumbent criminal law duty to rescue. We map the core elements of the duty to rescue under criminal law and how they might apply to such a chain of events, using the abovementioned event of 14 June as an example. Continue reading >>
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07 July 2023
Mourning the Dead While Securitizing the Sea
On 16 June, just two days after the catastrophic Pylos shipwreck in the Mediterranean with probably hundreds of deaths, the EU Commission organised the 4th meeting on a European framework for search and rescue in the Mediterranean. The framework is supposed to address „the specific challenges stemming from the ongoing migratory movements to the EU by sea, including those deriving from the increased number and types of actors involved in SAR operations“. While the alleged aim of the framework is to improve cooperation between Member States and other actors, under the guise of ‘improving cooperation with other actors’, the milestones (‘deliverables’) identified in the draft roadmap for the adoption of the framework risk to further impede civil search and rescue operations. Civil society organisations active in Search and Rescue operations may face extensive administrative burdens in registering ships and in the execution of search and rescue operations. Continue reading >>
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30 August 2022
Seenotrettung vor dem EuGH
Gegen das Instrument der Hafenstaatkontrolle, mit dem Italien NGO-Schiffe regelmäßig festsetzte, hatten die NGOs Sea-Eye und Sea-Watch 2020 vor italienischen Verwaltungsgerichten geklagt. In den von Sea-Watch betriebenen Verfahren hatte das Regionale Verwaltungsgericht Sizilien dem EuGH zwei Vorabentscheidungsersuchen vorgelegt. Anfang August erging nun das Urteil des EuGH. Der Gerichtshof präzisiert darin die europarechtlichen Vorschriften zur Hafenstaatkontrolle, trägt zur Auslegung der einschlägigen seevölkerrechtlichen Normen bei und grenzt die Verantwortungsbereiche von Flaggen- und Hafenstaaten voneinander ab. Continue reading >>
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24 August 2022
NGOs in distress
During the summer of 2020, two ships operated by the non-governmental organization Sea Watch reached Italian shores after rescuing migrants in distress at sea. Upon arrival, both ships were detained at two Sicilian ports. Sea Watch brought two legal actions for the annulment of the detention measures. On 1 August 2022, the CJEU delivered its judgement on the case. Continue reading >>
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09 July 2021
Visibility and Crime at Sea
On 30th June 2021, search-and-rescue activists from Sea-Watch witnessed a brutal attack by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard against a migrant vessel carrying 64 during an attempted pushback. Now, prosecutors in Sicily have launched an investigation against the Libyan Coast Guard for “attempted shipwreck.” This the first time, a European court opens an investigation against the Libyan Coast Guard, and the fact that an Italian court should do so bears legal and political importance. Continue reading >>
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29 January 2021
Mediterranean Responsibilities
This week, the UN Human Rights committee issued a long-awaited decision concerning a distress case in the Mediterranean back in 2013. 400 migrants were on board of a vessel which sunk within the Maltese Search and Rescue zone but in vicinity of the Italian island of Lampedusa. At least 200 persons died. The decision of the Committee is somewhat of a milestone. This blog post depicts the most important legal aspects of the Committee’s decision, with special regard to the broader setting of maritime migration and States’ responsibilities. Continue reading >>
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