NOTE: UN Security Council has authority under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to adopt legally binding decisions to prevent threats to international peace and security, which encompasses the crime of international maritime piracy.
U.N. General Assembly Resolutions on Oceans and Law of the Sea
U.N. Security Council Resolutions on Piracy
Status
The documents below can be searched for in the United Nations Documents page. Click Treaty Collection, and thereafter, go to Databases, where you can find which treaties are in force, and which states are parties to such treaties. The status of Multilateral Treaties on The Law of the Seas can be found in Chapter XXI of the database. Although many of the treaties related to piracy are included in Chapter XXI, some others are not. Nonetheless, they can be found through an Advanced Search.
Text
To find the full text of all of the treaties, click on the links below or go to the Certified True Copies link. From the Certified True Copies link, one can find the full text either under Chapter XXI or by performing an Advanced Search, inputting the name of the treaty as listed below (Search Object: Treaty; Attributes: English Title) into Criteria for Selected Attribute, Match this phrase, Add, and then Search. In addition to providing the text of the treaty in various languages, treaties found this way also tell you which states are parties, and when the treaty came into force.
The following are the most important and relevant treaties on the law of the prevention of International Maritime Piracy. As mentioned in Finding Research Tools, a researcher may also access some of these documents through other websites including the International Maritime Organization (IMO) website under "Conventions" as well as in the Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL).
Note: that the first three treaties listed are under the same link, and you need to scroll down in the document file to view the relevant convention.
Note: when doing an individual Advanced Search for the treaty, sometimes entering the full english title of the treaty name may be too specific. If necessary, inputting only some of the words from the title of the treaty will generate results, which you can then sift through to find the one you are looking for. Moreover, one can also search by inputting the published treaty source instead of searching by english title of the treaty (ie: U.N.T.S #).
Convention on the High Seas, Apr. 29, 1958, 13 U.S.T. 2312, 450 U.N.T.S. 82 [hereinafter High Seas Convention].
1958 Territorial Sea Convention
Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, Apr. 29, 1958, 15 U.S.T. 1606, 516 U.N.T.S. 205 [hereinafter Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone Convention].
1958 Optional Protocol Concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes
Optional Protocol of Signature Concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes Arising from the Law of the Sea Conventions, Apr. 29, 1958, 450 U.N.T.S. 169 [hereinafter Optional Protocol].
1972 United States-Soviet Union Agreement for the Prevention of Incidents on and over the High Seas
Agreement on the Prevention of Incidents On and Over the High Seas, May 25, 1972, 23 U.S.T. 1168, 852 U.N.T.S. 151 [hereinafter Agreement for the Prevention of Incidents].
1974 Safety of Life at Sea Convention
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, Nov. 1, 1974, 32 U.S.T. 47, 1184 U.N.T.S. 2 [hereinafter SOLAS]
1982 Law of the Sea Convention
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397 [hereinafter LOS Convention].
1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation
Convention
for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation,
Mar. 10, 1988, 1988 U.S.T. 198, 1678 U.N.T.S. 222 [hereinafter SUA Convention].
2004 Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia
Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, Nov. 11, 2004, 2398 U.N.T.S. 199.