NEWPORT, R.I. – Examining the legal issues associated with the expansion of naval forces around the globe, the rise of transnational criminals, and the emergence of new technologies in the maritime environment were topics of a recent workshop sponsored by U.S. Naval War College (NWC) Stockton Center for the Study of International Law and University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law Center for Oceans Law and Policy in Washington, D.C.
The workshop included 23 leaders and experts in the field of maritime law with the keynote presentation provided by Ambassador John Negroponte who served as the first director of national intelligence when the position was established in 2005. His most recent position in government was Deputy Secretary of State.
NWC’s James Kraska, facilitator for the event and Howard S. Levie Professor of International Law, Stockton Center, said the event examined several vital legal areas.
“Stockton Center organizes three to four workshops a year to discuss emerging and significant legal issues,” said Kraska. “The purpose of this one was to have an expert-level discussion about the international legal issues impacting maritime intelligence operations.”
Presentations and breakout sessions were held on topics including maritime law enforcement and intelligence operations, intelligence activities in internal waters, straits and territorial seas, intelligence activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone and on the continental shelf, and intelligence activities in the Gray Zone, China’s maritime militia, and international and operational law.
The workshop also served to strengthen the longstanding relationship between NWC’s Stockton Center and the Virginia School of Law’s Center for Oceans Law and Policy.
Sponsoring the workshop aligns with one of the key missions of NWC.
“The workshop directly supported the mission of the U.S. Naval War College by further developing and educating top Navy strategic and operational leaders and helping define the future Navy and its roles and missions,” said Cmdr. Sean Fahey, associate director for the Law of Maritime Operations at the Stockton Center who also helped organize the event.
“This was an invite-only workshop. Each of the attendees was handpicked because of the expertise they have in the areas of intelligence gathering, maritime security, the law of the sea, international law, maritime law enforcement and intelligence fusion,” Fahey said. “The participants included world-renowned legal scholars and senior military intelligence practitioners and advisors.”
Among the attendees were representatives from Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) for Operations, Plans and Strategy; CNO Information Dominance; Office of Naval Intelligence; Office of Intelligence and Information Law for U.S. Coast Guard; Joint Chiefs of Staff; Department of Justice, Criminal Division's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section; Global Maritime Operational Threat Response Coordination Center; Syracuse University College of Law; Brookings Institution; Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; Center for Oceans Law and Policy; Oxford University, England; Monash University in Melbourne, Australia; Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong; Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt, Germany.