PRESS RELEASE
Immediate
London, UK. Human Rights at Sea is please to publish a legal research and educational article by Luisa Zappalà titled: “Search and rescue: shared responsibilities in international law of Member States, the European Union and Frontex in the Mediterranean.” The article, a LLM dissertation, was first published in 2016 through the University of Essex School of Law Human Rights Centre.
Passionate and multilingual young professional in Human Rights and Humanitarian issues with a solid background in law and 5 years in the international environment. Luisa worked for the UN, EU and COE in the field of ICL, IHRL and IHL. Driver of change who has experience of using policy, advocacy, and media to influence young generations. Luisa volunteered for Amnesty International, Elsa International, and Unicef; as well as she worked pro bono for the European Institutions and the World Bank. Luisa is self-motivated, innovative and goal-oriented; moreover she is looking for her next professional challenge.
This article provides a basis for future discussion regarding the imprecise interactions between international law, law of the sea, human rights and humanitarian law which are, together with a serious legal lacuna, the reasons of the inefficiency of the Search and Rescue system. It achieves this by identifying the moltitude of international Conventions and other legal instruments which a myriad of actors apply in the SAR context. The debate is about the reconciliation of humanitarian aspirations with the migrant burden and the sovereign right of States to control their borders. Member States point the finger at each other in determining who has to intervene in the overlapping SAR zones. An effective system of burden sharing among Member States could pave the way for the disembarkation procedures.