Indo-Pac partners maintain freedom of the sea

Australia’s flagship regional engagement activity – Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) – began with a law of the sea workshop involving the defence forces of Australia and Sri Lanka in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.

CAPTION: Commander Indo-Pacific Endeavour Commodore Michael Harris and Sri Lanka Navy officers after the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2024 workshop. Story by Lieutenant Jonathan Wills. Photos by Petty Officer Bradley Darvill.

The Australia Defence Force’s Indo-Pacific Centre for Military Law (IPCML) is a centre of excellence in military law in the region.

IPCML deploys teams of legal officers to partner nations to provide legal training, capacity-building, information-sharing and other legal engagement activities.

Lieutenant Commander Tim Quadrio, leader of the IPE Sri Lanka legal team, said this year’s legal workshop focused on the application of the law of the sea to maritime surveillance and law enforcement operations.

“Like Australia, Sri Lanka has vast areas of maritime jurisdiction and a large search and rescue region. These waters include busy shipping lanes and areas with rich marine biodiversity,” Lieutenant Commander Quadrio said.

“We are in Sri Lanka to share our experiences of conducting surveillance and enforcement operations that protect the sovereign rights granted by international law, while respecting navigational freedoms.

“This workshop demonstrates our respect for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and shared interest in conducting maritime operations in accordance with international law.”

Since 2017, IPE has undertaken engagement activities with partners in the region to develop relationships, knowledge and capacity, year-on-year.

In Sri Lanka, this year’s focus built on last year’s legal workshop, concentrating on maritime law enforcement and chain of custody issues, including the concept of hot pursuit.

IPCML team member Lieutenant Commander Felicia Fragapane said it was also about building stronger ties between partners.

“This workshop is about working together to plan and conduct maritime surveillance and enforcement operations,” Lieutenant Commander Fragapane said.

“It’s also about building stronger links, at a personal level, between legal officers and military operators, across our defence forces.”

Sri Lanka’s commitment to peaceful and stable maritime trade was demonstrated in November last year, when they became the 39th member of the Combined Maritime Forces, the world’s largest maritime security partnership.

It will engage with the international naval coalition in the Middle East, which protects some of the world’s most important waterways.

Legal officers from the IPCML will engage with their counterparts in host nations across the Indo-Pacific region as part of IPE.

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