A/HRC/15/21 1. The law of naval warfare and the question of the blockade 48. Considering the issues raised by the mandate given to the Mission which involved issues of law relating to naval warfare and the matter of a naval blockade imposed by Israel, the Mission views those matters as follows. 49. According to applicable international law, unless an exception applies, a vessel on the high seas is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its flag State. Under the international law of the sea such exceptions are usually limited to suspicion of certain activities (piracy, the slave trade, unauthorized high seas broadcasting), ships suspected of lacking nationality (i.e. stateless vessels) and cases where permission to board and inspect have been given either ad hoc or by treaty (e.g. those related to narcotics smuggling).36 Other exceptions would include acts of self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter against vessels which posed an immediate and overwhelming threat to the boarding State and lawful acts under LOAC. 50. It has been suggested that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), by reserving the use of the high seas for peaceful purposes,37 has effectively outlawed acts of naval warfare on the high seas. First, it should be noted that Israel is not a party to the Convention. Second, there was no consensus on this position during the negotiation of the Convention and it was certainly not accepted by the major naval powers at the time. Indeed, the military manuals of many States (both UNCLOS parties and nonparties) continue to include provisions on the law of naval warfare and blockade.38 Further, a report of the United Nations Secretary General found that these UNCLOS provisions did not affect action that was lawful either under the law of self-defence under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations (the jus ad bellum) or acts justified by the law of armed conflict (LOAC) once an armed conflict has commenced (the jus in bello).39 The majority of scholarly opinion would also support the view that the law of naval warfare continues to be potentially applicable on the high seas. One attempt at codifying this law was the independent expert study, the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea (SRM).40 While not authoritative, its codification effort has had a significant impact on the formulation of military manuals and it has been expressly relied upon by Israel. Blockade 51. Under the laws of armed conflict, a blockade is the prohibition of all commerce with a defined enemy coastline. A belligerent who has established a lawful blockade is entitled 36 37 38 39 40 12 See, in particular, United Nations Law of the Sea Convention 1982, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, No. 31363, art. 110(1); Convention on the High Seas 1958, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 450, No. 6465, art. 22. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, No. 31363, arts. 88, 141 and 301. UK Ministry of Defence, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2004) (hereinafter, UK Manual); Dieter Fleck (ed), Handbook of International Humanitarian Law 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2008), being an annotated translation of the German military manual (hereinafter, German Manual); The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels (2004), available at the website of the Canadian Office of the Judge Advocate General, http://www.forces.gc.ca/jag/publications/Training-formation/LOAC-DDCA_2004-eng.pdf (hereinafter, Canadian Manual); Commander’s Handbook of the Law of Naval Operations (US, 2007), available at http://usnwc.edu/getattachment/a9b8e92d-2c8d-4779-9925-0defea93325c/114M_(Jul_2007)_(NWP) (hereinafter, US Manual). Report of the Secretary General, “Study on the Naval Arms Race”, (A/40/535), 1985, para. 188. As reproduced in Louise Doswald-Beck et al (eds.), San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea (Cambridge University Press, 1995). Available at: http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/560?OpenDocument.