Taming the Beast: How the International Legal Regime Creates and Contains Flags of Convenience
![handle is hein.journals/ansurintcl19 and id is 277 raw text is: TAMING THE BEAST: HOW THE
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGIME
CREATES AND CONTAINS FLAGS OF
CONVENIENCE
ERIC POWELL*
I. INTRODUCTION
Centuries-old maritime jurisprudence continues to guide the law of the
sea today. These baseline understandings are necessary to maintain
order of the largest international commons, the sea.' The seas' central
role in globalization, though, strains some of this established law. In
particular, the question of jurisdiction has become increasingly complex
as ships regularly ply every ocean and visit ports in dozens of countries.
Many of these ships are actually subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of
States with which they have no connection and which have limited
incentives to regulate. This paper explores how this jurisdictional non
sequitur arose, and when international law permits concurrent
jurisdiction. Specifically, this paper emphasizes when U.S. courts can
reach activities on the seas.
The seas are both the lynchpin of global trade and the site of global
disasters. Nearly 105,000 ships2 transport more than 90% of world
* Eric Powell served eight years in the Navy's active and reserve Information Dominance
Corps. He wrote this paper in partial fulfillment of his J.D. It was awarded Harvard Law School's
Addison-Brown Prize for writing on maritime and private international law. He is a graduate of
Harvard Law School and Harvard College.
1. 71% of the Earth is covered by water. Aquatic Commons, Distribution of the Earth's
Water, http://aquaticcommons.orgt650/1IPosterI3E.pdf (last visited March 16, 2013).
2. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Review of Maritime Transport, at
36-37, UNCTAD/RMT/201 1 (Nov. 22, 2011) [hereinafter RMT].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ansurintcl19&div=14&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Taming the Beast: How the International Legal Regime Creates and Contains Flags of Convenience
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