Expanding the Right of Hot Pursuit: Challenges for Cooperative Maritime Law Enforcement Between the Philippines and Indonesia

Piracy and armed robbery against ships is a rising problem in the tri-border area between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. As a result, these countries have begun formal discussions on the establishment of joint patrols, and are also exploring other possible avenues for trilateral maritime security cooperation. Indonesia and the Philippines recently took their partnership one step further by affirming previous bilateral enforcement agreements and expressing willingness to exercise an “expanded” right of hot pursuit within each other’s territorial borders. In a region where sensitivities concerning sovereignty and border issues run high, such an intrusive arrangement certainly warrants closer scrutiny. At the outset, this paper critically discusses the legality of an expanded right of hot pursuit and examines whether such an arrangement is permitted under international law. From a practical perspective, this paper further discusses three key pitfalls and challenges that must be addressed in implementation: (1) whether and to what extent force can be used in the exercise of the expanded right of hot pursuit, (2) whether there are any issues pertaining to the overlapping exercise of criminal jurisdiction, and (3) whether international human rights obligations apply in extraterritorial maritime law enforcement.