DIILS Resident Course – The Inaugural Legal Aspects of Maritime Security Operations (LAMSO) course conducted in December of 2018.

On 13 December 2018, nine participants from five countries graduated as the first class of international military members and government officials to complete the inaugural DIILS “Legal Aspects of Maritime Law Enforcement and Security Operations” (LAMSO) resident course.  Subject-matter experts from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center, New York Police Department, as well as the United Kingdom Royal Navy, joined DIILS instructors in presenting international maritime law curriculum.  Students learned about a wide range of topics relevant to the maritime legal framework, including the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as legal concepts underlying operations to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and trafficking narcotics.  In addition to academic presentations, students were involved in interactive case studies, along with site visits to a variety of government facilities in New York City, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and New London, Connecticut, where instructors and students discussed best practices, along with the importance of partnerships.  These experiences facilitated the students’ abilities to incorporate these lessons learned into their own country’s legal processes for maritime law enforcement and security operations.

LAMSO participants commented on what they considered was the highlight of the academic instruction:

“International Fisheries Law and the case studies, because almost all the countries [in] this course, have the same problem and this presentation offered us alternative points of view that we have in our countries to solve our problem.”

“Importance of good working relationships between commanders and legal advisers in maritime law enforcement and security operations.”

“For me, as an attorney who has to advise our Navy…, those presentations on UNCLOS and maritime zones, as well as on case preparation and successful prosecution.”

LAMSO participants also shared their thoughts on the most important strength of the program:

“The diverse range of the presentations, combined with the visit to the United States Coast Guard and New York Police Department, as well as the visits to New York City and Boston.”

“Having people from different nationalities coming together with the U.S. folks to discuss their own experiences and challenges to improve.”

“The instructors were extremely qualified and had a great knowledge and expertise about the different topics.”

The next offering of LAMSO (MASL P176009) will be in 9 – 26 September 2019, at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island and will include site visits to government facilities in New York City, New York and other locations.