Smoother Seas Ahead: The Draft Guidelines as an International Solution to Modern-Day Piracy

Article by George D. Gabel, Jr.

Piracy is an increasing problem for commercial trade. As the oceans are used by all and controlled by no one, a regulatory vacuum exists with respect to laws guiding state responses to piratical acts. This Article promotes the Draft Guidelines as the most appropriate response to this international conundrum.


About the Author

George D. Gabel, Jr. George D. Gabel, Jr., of Holland & Knight is a member of the Florida Bar and the District of Columbia Bar. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers; Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; Master of the Bench, Chester Bedell Inn of Court; and Norwegian Consul for Northeast Florida. He has served as Chairman of the Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee, Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association; Chairman of the Admiralty Committee, Florida Bar; on the Board of Directors, Maritime Law Association of the United States; Board of Governors, Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute; Florida Judicial Nominating Commission, Fourth Circuit; Rules Advisory Committee, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida; and President of the American Counsel Association. He is an overseas subscriber to the Average Adjusters Association, London, and a member of the Association of Average Adjusters of the United States. He was a delegate to the Comité Maritime International Conferences in Sydney, Australia; Antwerp, Belgium; Singapore, where he was head of the American delegation on piracy; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Dubrovnik, Croatia. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Maritime Law, and Chambers USA, Transportation: Shipping, and he is a member of the Advisory Board for the Tulane Admiralty Law Institute.

In his community, Mr. Gabel has served as President of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville; President of the Boy Scouts of America, North Florida Council; and President of the Jacksonville Consular Corps. In 2002, he was named International Person of the Year by the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, on whose board he presently is serving as international chair.

Mr. Gabel earned his A.B. in 1961 from Davidson College, where he more recently served as a trustee for twelve years, and his J.D. in 1964 from the University of Florida.

Citation

81 Tul. L. Rev. 1433 (2007)