Melanie Fink and Merinda Stewart present in Riga in the framework of ILS 2.0
On 7 September 2016, Melanie Fink and Merinda Stewart presented at a Research Forum organised by the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on the Law of the Sea. The Research Forum took place in the framework of the Annual ESIL Conference held in Riga from 8-10 September 2016 to discuss ‘How International Law Works in Times of Crisis’.
The Research Forum concerned the topic ‘Enforcement at Sea: Legal and Operational Challenges in Maritime Security’. Both, Merinda and Melanie, presented their research conducted in the framework of the ILS 2.0 project ‘Policing the high seas: maritime law-enforcement in a multi-actor environment’.
Merinda discussed her PhD proposal regarding the use of drones to ensure maritime security. She highlighted the difficulties for the various legal frameworks, such as aviation law, or the law of the sea, to effectively regulate the use of drones for military or law enforcement purposes. In coping with these and other difficulties, Merinda suggested that the European Union may draw inspiration from the approaches developed in the United States or Australia.
Melanie presented her research on liability under European Union law for fundamental rights violations that may occur during maritime law enforcement operations, in particular joint border control operations coordinated by the EU agency Frontex. She focussed on the question of allocation of liability between Frontex and EU member states participating during operations, arguing that EU law poses a number of challenges to the right to an effective remedy.