In the aftermath of the "Coral Sea" and "Therese" cases, the article deals with the problem of criminalization of the master of the ship for the crime of illicit traffic based on command ...responsibility. The first part of the article gives the general framework of the crimes of illicit traffic and smuggling by sea, and an overview of the ship security regulations as provided by the ISPS code. In the second part of the article, the position of the master of the ship with respect to responsibility for illicit traffic is emphasised. It starts by explaining details from both "Coral Sea" and "Therese" cases, where masters were indicted and/or prosecuted based solely on their command responsibility. The author tries to elaborate the problem from a maritime law perspective by explaining the evolution and meaning of different aspects of the three functions of the master of the ship today: nautical, administrative and representation of the shipowner. In order to put the potential responsibility of seafarers for the content of cargo into perspective, the reality of containerized cargo shipping is being explained and documented stage-by-stage. Finally, the basic concepts of criminal law are being explained, where principles of "nullumcrimen, nulla poena sine lege" apply. According to that, there can be no analogy between criminal responsibility of the master of the ship for crimes of illicit traffic (where the principle of proven guilt applies) with command responsibility for war crimes.
Prijevoz brodom jedan je od omiljenih vidova prijevoza ilegalnih imigranata
i droge kojeg koristi organizirani kriminal širom svijeta. Ustaljeni je pomorskopravni
princip odgovornosti zapovjednika ...broda kao punomoćnika brodara po
zaposlenju za sve odnose koji nastanu tijekom plovidbe i u vezi s brodom, no brzina
prijevoza, količina prevezene robe i nemogućnost kontrole sastava tereta od strane
zapovjednika broda pri ukrcaju čine njegov položaj u slučaju ilegalnog krijumčarenja
u suvremenoj pomorskoj praksi izuzetno teškim. U posljednje vrijeme zamjetan je
trend vrlo slobodnog tumačenja dosega i uvjeta za kaznenu odgovornost pomoraca
općenito, pa tako i zapovjedne odgovornosti zapovjednika broda. Sukobljeni interesi
brodarske industrije, koja želi motivirati stvaranje i zadržavanje kvalitetnog kadra u
struci, i interesa obalnih država suočenih s opasnim slučajevima ilegalnog krijumčarenja
droge i ljudi počinjenih brodovima za suzbijanjem takvog ponašanja, čine
ovo pitanje jednim od gorućih pitanja pomorsko-pravne prakse danas, i predmet su
izučavanja ovog rada.
