Law and disorder? Defending different definitions of free movement at sea

摘要

The application and interpretation of maritime law has always been an important aspect of operations at sea, with examples including the implementation of the rules of blockade in the First World War, the ingenious games played by both the British and the German navies during the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, or the Corfu channel incident involving the United Kingdom and Albania in the late 1940s. This process of application and interpretation is just as important now as it has ever been. As if to prove the point, China has even coined a word for it: 'lawfare' - in other words, the conduct of military operations at sea by legal means.