The Regulation of Naval Mines in Maritime Warfare

Abstract

A naval mine drifting away from where it was moored or deployed can easily cause a significant impediment of States’ navigational rights and can in the worst case pose a serious threat to sailors’ and civilians’ lives. The same may be said about mines that remain active after the cessation of an armed conflict. For this reason, the topic of this dissertation is the regulation of naval mines, focusing on inter alia the duties a belligerent State has if the deployed mines drift away or if the armed conflict ends, as well as potential shortcomings of that regulation.