The jurisdictional challenges to the prosecution of piracy cases in Kenya: mixed fortunes for a perfect model in the global war against piracy

Since 2008 Kenya has distinguished itself in the global war against piracy by undertaking prosecutions in the national courts of suspected pirates arrested in the high seas and handed over by navies of leading maritime nations under bilateral agreements (MOUs) entered into between Kenya and these leading maritime nations. As of July 2011, Kenya had over 20 convicted pirates serving jail terms ranging between 7 and 20 years and over 100 suspected pirates awaiting trial in national courts. This is the largest number of suspected pirates held and tried in any one state at any given time in modern history. To achieve this, Kenya had to effect far reaching changes in the law. In the initial stages, suspected pirates were charged under Kenya’s Penal Code (Cap 63 Laws of Kenya). However, the high court in the case of Re Mohamud Mohamed Dashi and eight others [2010] eKLR, ruled that Kenya had no jurisdiction to try suspected pirates under that law. In September 2009, Kenya passed a new law (the Merchant Shipping Act), which not only defined more comprehensively and extensively the offence of piracy, but also extended the jurisdiction of Kenyan courts to try piracy committed by non-nationals. Though the law gives Kenya a very broad jurisdiction to try suspected pirates, the process is still fraught with challenges due to lack of financial and human resources. In the case of Republic vs Hassan Jama Haleys Alias Hassan Jamal and five others [2010] eKLR, the court commented thus:

“… I must note that the ‘piracy trials’ have presented a unique challenge to the Kenyan legal system. We cannot ignore the fact that these are suspects who having been arrested by foreign naval forces on the High Seas are brought to Kenya for trial. They are strangers in the country, do not understand the legal system, may not know what their rights are and do not understand the language… the Kenyan Government and the International partners supporting these trials put in place a system to provide free legal representation for the suspects…”     

场间渡线道岔信号联锁设计方案的分析与应用

场间渡线道岔经常出现在枢纽大站,其具体信号联锁方案设计应在保证场间作业安全的同时,兼顾运营作业效率。介绍了解决场间渡线道岔控制的2种不同设计方案,详细分析了各方案的优缺点,并对推荐方案的具体工程应用方式进行了说明。     

高速公路拓宽设计难点浅析

该文通过对沪宁高速公路拓宽改建实例,分析高速公路改拓建设计的难点,可供同行参考。     

某加热保温箱型钢筋混凝土厌氧发酵罐的结构设计浅析

该文以某垃圾处理厂加热保温箱型厌氧发酵罐的结构设计为例,简要论述了箱型厌氧发酵罐结构设计的方法和设计要点,并根据发酵罐的特点提出几点结构设计建议。     

劳斯莱斯轴带电机的应用及其优越性

本文首先对船舶轴带发电机的定义和类型进行了简述。在此基础上,主要介绍了劳斯莱斯轴带电机(Hybrid Shaft Generator,HSG)的概念、结构特点、工作模式和优越性。最后对该类型轴带电机的适用范围、经济效益等方面的问题进行了探讨和研究。     

基于DSP的火炮数字式中心线校正装置设计

校正火炮传动装置中心线是火炮装配与维修工作中一项重要的工作,针对火炮传动装置中心线测量校正过程繁琐、精度低等问题,基于数码传感器和DSP技术,研制了火炮数字式中心线校正装置,可以直接显示被测部件应加减调整垫的厚度,测量过程简单方便,测量精度大大提高,经试用证明明显加快了装配和维修的进度,提高了校正精度。该装置经简单的改装就可应用于其他车辆的装配和维修,通用性强,适用范围广。     

船舶如何建立和实施海事劳工体系

编制(一)编制文件的依据(1)MLC2006公约;(2)CCS编写的MLC2006符合声明PARTII编写指导及海事劳工管理手册编写指导;(3)目前船旗国现有的与MLC2006有关的立法;(4)公司具体的规定。(二)编制责任——船东制定(1)船东分别着手编制实船DMLCPARTII及其他必要的文件;(2)船舶培训、自查、缺陷及整改情况、评估(内部审核)、外部审核等程序,船东制定,分别纳入船舶MLC     

基于移动闭塞的ATS列车进路控制模型

在对ATS系统进路控制问题进行分析的基础上,采取故障导向安全的思想,在不影响车站作业的前提下,以提高列车进路的准确性和时效性为目标,结合移动闭塞制式下ATS系统进路控制的特点,提出了一种高可靠性的进路控制模型,并对模型的运行机制进行了论述。该模型已在实际系统中得到了应用,并取得了良好的效果。     

液压转向系统冷启动沉故障机理及测试方法研究

液压转向系统冷启动沉故障在北方冬季是比较常见的一个故障,论文针对故障产生的机理进行了深入分析,并对产生故障的常见原因及改进方法进行了简单介绍,最后对如何确定故障源从测试方面提供了方法.     

A proposed vision and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication-based vehicle positioning approach

It is essential to obtain accurate location of vehicles for new applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems. To remedy the defects of present Global Positioning System and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V-I) positioning technology, a new positioning approach based on vision and V-I communication is proposed. This approach aims at lane-level positioning with lower cost than conventional ones. In this approach, the position of the vehicle is represented by its lateral position (the lane number) and longitudinal position (the distance from entrance of the road) in a course coordinate system along the road; the specific lane the vehicle is occupying (the lane number) can be judged using the information of lane lines detected by vision systems; then the distance to the vehicle is obtained by a Road Side Unit (RSU) during the V-I communication; and the longitudinal position is calculated. The error of the approach on typical operating conditions is analyzed, indicating that the new approach can achieve the accuracy of less than 0.31 m for straight road and 0.58 m for typical arc road with ultra-wideband communication and ranging technologies and rational arrangement of RSUs. The feasibility of this approach is presented.