Migrants by sea

Abstract

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Spanish authorities, as well as other EU Southern Member States, have been activating different sectors-related measures to tackle migration by sea, and both its causes and consequences, as well as to dismantle the criminal organisations which turn high profits from the smuggling of migrants. Undoubtedly the law of the sea is one of the main branches of law in which the State attempts to find the adequate answers to this phenomenon, which comes to be a challenge to the peaceful use of the seas. The 20th anniversary of the entry into force in Spain of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea constitutes therefore the perfect occasion to revisit the Spanish practice regarding the management of migration by sea and, especially, how the Spanish authorities have been making use of the powers set in the specific provisions LOSC which are applicable to this field. For that purpose, this contribution will be structured into three sections, corresponding to the three types of State jurisdiction. Firstly, we will examine how Spain has made use of its prescriptive or normative powers regarding the prevention and fight against migration by sea. In particular, we will analyse how the Spanish legislator has reflected in internal legal norms the LOSC provisions regarding the interdiction powers the Convention attributes to the State in the different maritime zones (A). In a second section, the analysis of Spanish enforcement powers will lead us to consider the authorities which are in charge of executing these norms and the kind of operations within which interception and rescue functions are being implemented by Spain (B). In a third section, the curial or adjudicatory jurisdiction of Spain will be briefly reviewed, by presenting the evolution of the competence of Spanish courts to try the criminal offence of smuggling of migrants committed at sea (C).