Prosecuting Juvenile Piracy Suspects

Milena Sterio is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Enrichment at Cleveland State University’s Marshall College of Law, USA. Her research interests are in the field of international law, international criminal law, international human rights, law of the seas, as well as private international law. She is author of The Right to Self-Determination under International Law (Routledge, 2012), and co-editor of Prosecuting Maritime Piracy: Domestic Solutions to International Crime (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Professor Sterio was the recipient of the Fulbright academic award for spring 2013 and spent a semester researching at Baku State University in Baku, Azerbaijan. Over the past five years, Professor Sterio has established herself as one of the most prominent and influential experts in the field of maritime piracy. She has participated in the work of the United Nations’ Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, and is a member of the Piracy Working Group, an academic think tank created within the auspices of the Public International Law and Policy Group. Her academic work has been cited in two piracy prosecutions in the United States’ federal courts.

Introduction Part 1: The Problem of Juvenile Pirates in Somalia 1. The Basics of the Somali Piracy Model 2. Using Juveniles to Perform Piratical Acts Part 2: International Law on the Treatment of Juvenile Criminal Suspects 3. International Human Rights Law on the Treatment of Juvenile Suspects 4. International Law on the Use of Child Soldiers: An Important Parallel Part 3: Age Determinations: A Difficult Challenge 5. Determining a Suspect’s Age: When a Bearded Man States That He is Fourteen 6. Recent National Prosecutions of Juvenile Suspects: European Countries 7. Recent National Prosecutions of Juvenile Suspects: (India, Malaysia, and the Seychelles) 8. Prosecuting Juvenile Piracy Suspects in the United States Part 4. Recommendations and Best Practices 9. Recommendations for Best Practices Regarding the Prosecution of Juvenile Piracy Suspects Conclusion