Dita Liliansa’s latest article, “Home State Jurisdiction over Corporate Harms at Sea in Fisheries in Southeast Asia,” has just been published in Ocean Development and International Law as part of the Special Issue on Protection of Fishers in Southeast Asia under International Law. The publication stems from a collaboration between the CIL NUS and UNSW Sydney and is available open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/00908320.2026.2614582.

The article examines how modern slavery in capture fisheries is sustained not only by abusive practices on board fishing vessels, but also by a wider network of corporate actors — particularly those engaged in transshipment — that enable vessels to remain at sea and evade oversight. It argues that the existing law of the sea framework, anchored in flag and coastal state jurisdiction, leaves significant accountability gaps when those states are unable or unwilling to act.

Focusing on Southeast Asia, the article advances a doctrinal argument that home states have a due diligence obligation to protect against human rights abuses committed abroad by their nationals, including corporate actors engaged in fishing-related activities at sea. It contends that prescriptive jurisdiction is concurrent and shared, and that home states must operationalize this obligation through domestic regulatory and enforcement measures. By bridging the law of the sea with international human rights law, particularly the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the article seeks to close jurisdictional gaps and ensure that responsibility extends beyond the vessel to the broader corporate networks that sustain exploitation at sea.