How trippy is this...lol
There are lots of International Laws which could be applicable aren't there depending on the circumstance.
Whatever they are doesn't negate the fact that as I stated International Law applies to our Navy and that applies regardless of orders from our Prime Minister.
Though in relation to what Icy suggested
what would a Government which ordered our Navy not to respond to a distress call and attempt to rescue lives at sea be effectively ordering our Navy to do?
You can argue as much as you like that someone else should be saving these people's lives ...doesn't and wouldn't change the fact that they needed rescuing,asked for help from us,were denied it and we knowingly left them to die.
AREA SEARCH AND RESCUE PLANS
Notification of an Arrangement on Search and Rescue Regions and
co-ordination of search and rescue services in accordance with
paragraph 2.1.4 of the Annex to the International Convention
on Maritime Search and Rescue, 1979, as amended
Notification by Australia and Indonesia
http://www.imo.org/blast/blastDataHelper.asp?data_id=9310&filename=22.pdf
"Irrespective of any government's policy, I'm sure our officers and sailors will act in accordance with international law and the safety of life at sea conventions."
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/naval-officers-would-disobey-orders-to-turn-back-as...
International obligations
The law relating to search and rescue on the high seas comes from international conventions as well as agreements between individual countries. The conventions relevant to the seas between Australia and Indonesia include the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR). There is also an agreement called the 2004 Arrangement between Australia and Indonesia for the Co-ordination of Search and Rescue Services.
Changes were made to the SOLAS and SAR conventions after the 2001 Tampa incident off the coast of Christmas Island to clarify the obligations that countries have in relation to search and rescue. The Tampa incident involved the Norwegian ship MV Tampa, which rescued 438 asylum seekers in the Indian Ocean and was refused entry to Australian waters.
The UNCLOS and the amended SOLAS conventions require that signatories establish, operate and maintain search and rescue services in their areas of responsibility. The amended SAR obliges states to provide assistance to "any person in distress at sea... regardless of the nationality or status of such persons or the circumstances in which they are found".
The world's oceans have been divided into 13 search and rescue regions (SRR). These zones allocate responsibility for search and rescue to particular countries, but they do not prevent other countries from coordinating and undertaking search and rescue in those regions. They have no bearing on who has rights to particular sea areas and so do not cover the same areas as the territorial and contiguous maritime zones (described in an earlierABC Fact Check). In fact the Indonesian SRR includes the area around Christmas Island, while the Australian SRR extends to within 600 nautical miles of Sri Lanka.
Under both the SOLAS and SAR conventions, the country responsible for a particular SRR "shall co-ordinate and co-operate to ensure that masters of ships providing assistance... are released from their obligations with minimum further deviation from the ships' intended voyage". That country has "primary responsibility for ensuring such co-ordination and co-operation occurs, so that survivors assisted are disembarked from the assisting ship and delivered to a place of safety" and should "arrange for such disembarkation to be effected as soon as possible".
If you need any more information.It's on the net.No thanks necessary for what I provided for others to find answer to their questions.Have a good day
