Human rights in counter-piracy operations : no legal vacuum but legal uncertainty

The Security Council has set an ambitious goal for itself: the full and durable eradication of piracy. In order to achieve this objective, it has amongst others set up an ad hoc legal framework authorizing States and regional organizations to take counter-piracy enforcement measures in Somali territorial waters and on its mainland. The powers conferred by the Resolutions supplement the existing legal instruments to combat piracy on the high seas, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.