Procedures for the Arrest of Ships in Algerian Legislation

Despite the Algerian legislator’s failure to specify the measures that port authorities must take to prevent a ship from sailing—or at least to outline standard or typical forms of such measures—and despite the absence of provisions allowing the detention of foreign ships passing through Algeria’s territorial waters in accordance with Article 28 of the Montego Bay Convention (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS), as well as the lack of clarity regarding the authority responsible for executing detention orders, the legislator also ignored the potential undermining of maritime police powers in enforcing the aforementioned proposal. Furthermore, the law does not distinguish between the procedures for detaining a ship and arresting a ship, given that the latter relates to a state’s internal regulations and its international obligations concerning environmental protection and combating maritime crimes. However, the legislator emphasized the necessity of notifying the judicial order that obligates the port authority to comply with its content by taking all necessary measures deemed appropriate to immobilize the ship subject to detention. Consequently, the role of the port authority is limited to ensuring compliance with the detention order. For instance, it may order the ship to relocate its berth to another dock or a designated anchorage area within the port if its current position threatens security or port operations. Nevertheless, such intervention does not constitute interference in the management or operation of the ship, as the port authority is not a party to the dispute.