As Mozambique is a coastal State, with an extensive coastline of approximately 2,700 kilometres, the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique expressly provides for the possibility of maritime courts forming part of the country's judicial system (Article 222(2)). In accordance with this constitutional provision, Law No. 10/2022 of 7 July 2022 introduced an updated legal framework governing the establishment of maritime courts in Mozambique.
Taking into account the legislation currently in force in the Republic of Mozambique, this paper offers a number of elements for a proper understanding of the international legal framework governing the exercise of jurisdiction by Mozambican maritime courts under the Law of the Sea.
To this end, it examines, in turn, the distinction between the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law, the sources of the Law of the Sea as an integral part of Mozambique's legal system, the legal status of the maritime zones that make up the maritime domain of the Republic of Mozambique, and the legal framework governing maritime offences and maritime administrative infringements under Mozambican law.
Given the wide range of legal sources within the Mozambican legal system that maritime courts must consider when assessing conduct that may potentially constitute maritime offences or maritime administrative infringements within Mozambique's national maritime domain, the task of selecting, interpreting and applying the relevant legal provisions is particularly complex.
