WIRETAPPING ON SUBMARINE COMMUNICATIONS CABLE: QUESTIONING ITS LEGALITY AMIDST LONG STANDING PRACTICE
Article Sidebar
Published:
Jul 26, 2022
Keywords:
Cyber Law, Human Rights Law, International Law of The Sea, Submarine Communications Cable, Wiretapping
Main Article Content
Abstract
Up to 95% of the communication infrastructures are currently served by the submarine communications cable networks, which in their utilisation connect a wide variety of communications data. The increasingly advanced infrastructure is in fact unable to go hand in hand with legal transformation. At the present time, international law provides only partial protection in form of prevention against damage to the cable networks. Consequently, in the event that data transmissions across the cable networks are illegally exploited by foreign parties through "wiretapping" without inflicting any damage, as long as it is committed in the body of waters outside the state's sovereignty, the international law is unable to explicitly address this situation. The wiretapping has occurred in a couple of instances, however, the proper preventive measures are still in question. Fortunately, the most recent practice of international law in the field of human rights has provided some clarities through case law. Despite the fact that it has only been applied regionally, this endeavour is at the very least capable of supporting future proposed legal reforms. This article will further elaborate on the legality of wiretapping on submarine communications cable networks based on the relevant field of international law, which eventually revealed that such conduct is contrary to cyber law, international law of the sea and human rights law.
Article Details
How to Cite
Botua, H. L., Chloryne Trie Isana Dewi, & R. Achmad Gusman Catur Siswandi. (2022). WIRETAPPING ON SUBMARINE COMMUNICATIONS CABLE: QUESTIONING ITS LEGALITY AMIDST LONG STANDING PRACTICE. Padjadjaran Journal of International Law, 6(1), 20-42. https://doi.org/10.23920/pjil.v6i1.772
Issue
Section
Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Books
Burnett, Douglas R. & Carter, Lionel, International Submarine Cables and Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: The Cloud beneath the Sea, Brill, 2017.
Carter, Lionel, Submarine Cables and the Oceans: Connecting the World-Issue 31 of UNEP-WCMC biodiversity series, UNEP/Earthprint, 2010.
Churchill, Robin Rolf, & Alan Vaughan Lowe, The Law of The Sea, Manchester University Press, 1999.
Daniel P. O’Connell, The International Law of the Sea, vol. II (1984).
Garner, Bryan A., & Henry Campbell Black, Black's Law Dictionary, 9th ed, St. Paul, MN: West, 2009.
Gilbert Gidel, Le droit international public de la mer: le temps de paix, vol. I (1932).
Guilfoyle, Article 89 in Nordquist, Myron, ed. United Nations Convention on the law of the sea 1982, Volume VII: A Commentary, Brill, 2011.
M. McDougal & W. Burke, The Public Order of the Oceans: A Contemporary International Law of the Sea, Yale University Press, 1962.
Myron H. Nordquist/Satya N. Nandan/Shabtai Rosenne (eds.), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982: A Commentary, vol. II (1993).
Nordquist, Myron/Nandan, Satya N./Rosenne, Shabtai (eds.), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982: A Commentary, Vol. VI, 2002.
O’Brien, Article 301 in Nordquist, Myron, ed., United Nations Convention on the law of the sea 1982, Volume VII: A Commentary, Brill, 2011.
Oppenheim, Lassa, Oppenheim’s International Law, 9th edn, Robert Jennings & Arthur Watts eds., 1992.
Ponto, Hantje, Dasar Teknik Listrik, Deepublish, 2018.
Russell Buchan, Cyber Espionage and International Law, Hart Publishing, 2019.
Satow, Ernest, Satow’s Guide to Diplomatic Practice, 5th ed, Lord Gore-Booth ed., London & New York: Longman, 1979.
Sechrist, Michael, Cyberspace in Deep Water: Protecting Undersea Communication Cables by Creating an International Public-Private Partnership, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Policy Analysis Exercise, 2010.
Sontag, Sherry (et. al.), Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, Public Affairs, 1998.
Stewart Ash, The Development of Submarine Cables in Burnett, Douglas R. et.al, Submarine Cables: The Handbook of Law and Policy, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2013.
Journals
Baezner, M., and P. Robin. "Trend Analysis: Cyber Sovereignty and Data Sovereignty." Centre for Security Studies, Zurich, 2018.
Delupis, Ingrid. "Foreign warships and immunity for espionage." American Journal of International Law, 1984.
Edmondson, L. S. “Espionage in Transnational Law”, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 1971-1972.
Grzybowski. “The Regime of Diplomacy and the Tehran Hostages”, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 1981.
Kerley, Ernest L. "Some Aspects of the Vienna Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities", American Journal of International Law, Vol. 1, 1962.
Lehto, Martti, et al. "Arctic Connect Project and cyber security control, ARCY." Informaatioteknologian tiedekunnan julkaisuja, Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2019.
Moutzouris, Maria. "Sending and receiving: Immunity sought by diplomats committing criminal offences.", PhD dissertation, Rhodes University, 2008.
Oxman, Bernard H. "The regime of warships under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea." Va. J. Int'l L., 1983.
Terry, Patrick, "“Absolute Friends”: United States Espionage against Germany and Public International Law." Revue québécoise de droit international/Quebec Journal of International Law/Revista quebequense de derecho internacional, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2015.
Wolfrum, Rudiger, "Restricting the Use of the Sea to Peaceful Purposes: Demilitarization in Being." German YB Int'l L., 1981.
Legal Documents
1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
American Convention on Human Rights.
Case Concerning Continental Shelf (Libya v. Malta), ICJ 1985.
Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union adopted by the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference.
Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108).
zConvention on Cybercrime Budapest, 23.XI.2001 - European Treaty Series - No. 185, effective July 1, 2004.
Corfu Channel (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v. Albania) Judge Alvarez separate opinion.
ECHR, Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 58170/13, 25 May 2021.
Explanatory Report to the Convention on Cybercrime Budapest, 23.XI.2001.
General Assembly Resolution 65/37, Oceans and the law of the sea, A/RES/65/37 (7 December 2010).
Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, UN Doc A/68/98, 24 June 2013.
Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, UN Doc A/70/174, 22 July 2015.
Guide on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.
Guide to the Case-Law of the of the European Court of Human Rights - Data protection.
Huvig v. France, 24 April 1990, Series A no. 176 B.
ILC, Report of the International Law Commission: Commentaries to the Articles Concerning the Law of the Sea, UN Doc. A/3159 (1956), GAOR 11th Sess. Suppl. 9, 12, 24 (Art. 27).
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Island of Palmas (or Miangas) (The Netherlands / The United States of America) ICJ 1928.
ITLOS, The M/V ‘Saiga’ (St. Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea), Merits, Judgment of 1 July 1999.
Kennedy v. the United Kingdom, no. 26839/05, 18 May 2010.
Klass and Others v. Germany, 6 September 1978, Series A no. 28.
Kruslin v. France, 24 April 1990, 35, Series A no.176-A.
Liberty and Others v. the United Kingdom, no. 58243/00, 1 July 2008.
PCA, Arctic Sunrise Arbitration (Netherlands v. Russia), Merits, Award of 14 August 2015.
Roemen and Schmit v. Luxembourg, no. 26419/10, ECHR 2003-IV.
Roman Zakharov v. Russia [GC], no. 47143/06, ECHR 2015.
Rotaru v. Romania [GC], no. 28341/95, ECHR 2000-V.
S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 30562/04 and 30566/04, ECHR 2008.
South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), Award of 12 July 2016.
Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operation.
The 2015 Report of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (“the Venice Commission”) on the Democratic Oversight of Signals Intelligence Agencies.
Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of nuclear weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof 1971.
Weber and Saravia v. Germany no. 54934/00, ECHR 2006 XI.
Other Documents
Aftergood, Steven. "Soviet Spy Ronald W. Pelton to be Released from Prison." Online News. Federation of American Scientists 23 (2015).
Dorling, Philip. "Australian spies in global deal to tap undersea cable." Sydney Morning Herald 29 (2013).
Goetz, John, Hans Leyendecker, and Frederik Obermaier. "Britischer Geheimdienst zapft Daten aus Deutschland ab." British secret service taps data from Germany]. Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 3 (2020).
Greenwald, Glenn, and Ryan Gallagher. "New Zealand launched mass surveillance project while publicly denying it." The Intercept 15 (2014).
MacAskill, Ewen, et al. "GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications." The Guardian 21 (2013).
Merriam-Webster.com Legal Dictionary, s.v. “wiretapping,” accessed December 20, 2021, https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/wiretapping.
NATO, Warsaw Summit Communiqué, July 9, 2016, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_133169.htm. Accessed December 20, 2021.
Парламентская газета, Корабль спецназначения «Янтарь» вошёл в Средиземное море, https://www.pnp.ru/politics/korabl-specnaznacheniya-yantar-voshyol-v-sredizemnoe-more.html, accessed December 20, 2021.
Peters, Anne. "There is no explicit rule that prohibits espionage. But that doesn’t mean it’s allowed." Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional (2013).
TeleGeography, “Submarine Cable Map”, https://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/, accessed on May 20, 2021.
Burnett, Douglas R. & Carter, Lionel, International Submarine Cables and Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: The Cloud beneath the Sea, Brill, 2017.
Carter, Lionel, Submarine Cables and the Oceans: Connecting the World-Issue 31 of UNEP-WCMC biodiversity series, UNEP/Earthprint, 2010.
Churchill, Robin Rolf, & Alan Vaughan Lowe, The Law of The Sea, Manchester University Press, 1999.
Daniel P. O’Connell, The International Law of the Sea, vol. II (1984).
Garner, Bryan A., & Henry Campbell Black, Black's Law Dictionary, 9th ed, St. Paul, MN: West, 2009.
Gilbert Gidel, Le droit international public de la mer: le temps de paix, vol. I (1932).
Guilfoyle, Article 89 in Nordquist, Myron, ed. United Nations Convention on the law of the sea 1982, Volume VII: A Commentary, Brill, 2011.
M. McDougal & W. Burke, The Public Order of the Oceans: A Contemporary International Law of the Sea, Yale University Press, 1962.
Myron H. Nordquist/Satya N. Nandan/Shabtai Rosenne (eds.), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982: A Commentary, vol. II (1993).
Nordquist, Myron/Nandan, Satya N./Rosenne, Shabtai (eds.), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982: A Commentary, Vol. VI, 2002.
O’Brien, Article 301 in Nordquist, Myron, ed., United Nations Convention on the law of the sea 1982, Volume VII: A Commentary, Brill, 2011.
Oppenheim, Lassa, Oppenheim’s International Law, 9th edn, Robert Jennings & Arthur Watts eds., 1992.
Ponto, Hantje, Dasar Teknik Listrik, Deepublish, 2018.
Russell Buchan, Cyber Espionage and International Law, Hart Publishing, 2019.
Satow, Ernest, Satow’s Guide to Diplomatic Practice, 5th ed, Lord Gore-Booth ed., London & New York: Longman, 1979.
Sechrist, Michael, Cyberspace in Deep Water: Protecting Undersea Communication Cables by Creating an International Public-Private Partnership, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Policy Analysis Exercise, 2010.
Sontag, Sherry (et. al.), Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, Public Affairs, 1998.
Stewart Ash, The Development of Submarine Cables in Burnett, Douglas R. et.al, Submarine Cables: The Handbook of Law and Policy, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2013.
Journals
Baezner, M., and P. Robin. "Trend Analysis: Cyber Sovereignty and Data Sovereignty." Centre for Security Studies, Zurich, 2018.
Delupis, Ingrid. "Foreign warships and immunity for espionage." American Journal of International Law, 1984.
Edmondson, L. S. “Espionage in Transnational Law”, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 1971-1972.
Grzybowski. “The Regime of Diplomacy and the Tehran Hostages”, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 1981.
Kerley, Ernest L. "Some Aspects of the Vienna Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities", American Journal of International Law, Vol. 1, 1962.
Lehto, Martti, et al. "Arctic Connect Project and cyber security control, ARCY." Informaatioteknologian tiedekunnan julkaisuja, Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2019.
Moutzouris, Maria. "Sending and receiving: Immunity sought by diplomats committing criminal offences.", PhD dissertation, Rhodes University, 2008.
Oxman, Bernard H. "The regime of warships under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea." Va. J. Int'l L., 1983.
Terry, Patrick, "“Absolute Friends”: United States Espionage against Germany and Public International Law." Revue québécoise de droit international/Quebec Journal of International Law/Revista quebequense de derecho internacional, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2015.
Wolfrum, Rudiger, "Restricting the Use of the Sea to Peaceful Purposes: Demilitarization in Being." German YB Int'l L., 1981.
Legal Documents
1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
American Convention on Human Rights.
Case Concerning Continental Shelf (Libya v. Malta), ICJ 1985.
Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union adopted by the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference.
Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108).
zConvention on Cybercrime Budapest, 23.XI.2001 - European Treaty Series - No. 185, effective July 1, 2004.
Corfu Channel (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v. Albania) Judge Alvarez separate opinion.
ECHR, Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 58170/13, 25 May 2021.
Explanatory Report to the Convention on Cybercrime Budapest, 23.XI.2001.
General Assembly Resolution 65/37, Oceans and the law of the sea, A/RES/65/37 (7 December 2010).
Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, UN Doc A/68/98, 24 June 2013.
Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, UN Doc A/70/174, 22 July 2015.
Guide on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.
Guide to the Case-Law of the of the European Court of Human Rights - Data protection.
Huvig v. France, 24 April 1990, Series A no. 176 B.
ILC, Report of the International Law Commission: Commentaries to the Articles Concerning the Law of the Sea, UN Doc. A/3159 (1956), GAOR 11th Sess. Suppl. 9, 12, 24 (Art. 27).
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Island of Palmas (or Miangas) (The Netherlands / The United States of America) ICJ 1928.
ITLOS, The M/V ‘Saiga’ (St. Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea), Merits, Judgment of 1 July 1999.
Kennedy v. the United Kingdom, no. 26839/05, 18 May 2010.
Klass and Others v. Germany, 6 September 1978, Series A no. 28.
Kruslin v. France, 24 April 1990, 35, Series A no.176-A.
Liberty and Others v. the United Kingdom, no. 58243/00, 1 July 2008.
PCA, Arctic Sunrise Arbitration (Netherlands v. Russia), Merits, Award of 14 August 2015.
Roemen and Schmit v. Luxembourg, no. 26419/10, ECHR 2003-IV.
Roman Zakharov v. Russia [GC], no. 47143/06, ECHR 2015.
Rotaru v. Romania [GC], no. 28341/95, ECHR 2000-V.
S. and Marper v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 30562/04 and 30566/04, ECHR 2008.
South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), Award of 12 July 2016.
Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Operation.
The 2015 Report of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (“the Venice Commission”) on the Democratic Oversight of Signals Intelligence Agencies.
Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of nuclear weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof 1971.
Weber and Saravia v. Germany no. 54934/00, ECHR 2006 XI.
Other Documents
Aftergood, Steven. "Soviet Spy Ronald W. Pelton to be Released from Prison." Online News. Federation of American Scientists 23 (2015).
Dorling, Philip. "Australian spies in global deal to tap undersea cable." Sydney Morning Herald 29 (2013).
Goetz, John, Hans Leyendecker, and Frederik Obermaier. "Britischer Geheimdienst zapft Daten aus Deutschland ab." British secret service taps data from Germany]. Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 3 (2020).
Greenwald, Glenn, and Ryan Gallagher. "New Zealand launched mass surveillance project while publicly denying it." The Intercept 15 (2014).
MacAskill, Ewen, et al. "GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications." The Guardian 21 (2013).
Merriam-Webster.com Legal Dictionary, s.v. “wiretapping,” accessed December 20, 2021, https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/wiretapping.
NATO, Warsaw Summit Communiqué, July 9, 2016, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_133169.htm. Accessed December 20, 2021.
Парламентская газета, Корабль спецназначения «Янтарь» вошёл в Средиземное море, https://www.pnp.ru/politics/korabl-specnaznacheniya-yantar-voshyol-v-sredizemnoe-more.html, accessed December 20, 2021.
Peters, Anne. "There is no explicit rule that prohibits espionage. But that doesn’t mean it’s allowed." Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional (2013).
TeleGeography, “Submarine Cable Map”, https://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/, accessed on May 20, 2021.