Coast Guard officials to board antipiracy MSDF ships

TOKYO, Jan. 10 Kyodo - The government plans to have Japan Coast Guard officials, who have the authority to arrest suspects, board Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels when the ships are dispatched to waters off the coast of Somalia on an antipiracy mission, government officials said Saturday.

The government is planning the move as Self-Defense Forces officials are not
authorized to arrest. It is unusual for JCG officials to board MSDF ships.
When JCG officials arrest pirates, the pirates will be handed over to countries
concerned or prosecuted in Japan.
Japanese government officials and lawmakers have been discussing the dispatch
of MSDF ships to waters off Somalia to join the international effort, but no
established legal framework exists for the missions.
If MSDF ships are dispatched under a maritime policing provision in the SDF Law
as a stopgap measure until the proposed SDF dispatch legislation is enacted, it
is assumed that JCG officials will hold aboard Japanese ships pirates who kill,
injure or plunder.
But such a case may not occur as pirates are not expected to attack ships in
the sea area where MSDF ships are policing.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has reiterated his reservations about
dispatching MSDF ships under the maritime policing provision, expressing his
hope for a new law to enable such a dispatch.
A project team of Japan's ruling parties held its first meeting Friday to begin
drafting a bill to enable the MSDF dispatch. The team is expected to reach a
conclusion by around mid-March so the government can submit the bill during the
current parliamentary session running through early June.