Abstract
Piracy is a crime under international law and some municipal laws. Although it prominently features as a crime under existing Law of the Sea instruments, the advent of Somali piracy has demonstrated that some aspects of it are not properly addressed. The Security Council (SC), the EU and indeed the major powers are actively engaged in stamping out the phenomenon of piracy by various means such as naval patrols, freezing of pirates’ assets, and perhaps imposing sanctions on ransom payers. Prosecution of suspected pirates has come with its own bundle of difficulties which need to be ironed out through various means, such as Memoranda of Understanding (MoU). Above all, a comprehensive rather than incremental approach to the roots of the problem in Somalia is most needed.