THE USE OF DATA FROM EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS: CASE STUDY ILLEGAL OIL DISCHARGES AT SEA

摘要

The current legal limit for this oil discharge is 15 parts of oil to one million parts of water (International Conventionfor the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, 1973). But it is not easy to detect illegal oil discharge at sea, especiallywhen the violation took place in the exclusive economic zone and on the high seas. Directive 2005/35/EC on shipsourcepollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringements imposes the European Maritime SafetyAgency to work with Member States in developing technical solutions and providing technical assistance in actionssuch as tracing illegal oil discharges by satellite monitoring and surveillance. Satellite data are accepted as evidencein legal proceedings. This was the case on an international level for land claims and boundary disputes (Nicaragua v.Honduras (2007 ICJ 34) and Burkina Faso v. Republic of Mali (1986 ICJ 554). Satellite images must be reliable andavailable to be accepted as legal evidence. There are no international standards on the reliability and acceptability ofremote sensing data and there are no international rules of evidence. This is all decided at national level. This paperexamines the nature of satellite data and their characteristics as evidence in criminal proceedings. The research willfocus on the case of illegal oil discharge at sea and especially in Europe. It will not focus on intellectual propertyrights or privacy issues.