26 August 2010 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a French public law professor and former diplomat to advise him on legal issues surrounding piracy off the Somali coast, it was announced today.  

Jack Lang, 70, has extensive experience as a policy-maker, both domestically and on a global scale, and has served as his country’s Minister of Culture and Education, as well as President of the French National Assembly’s foreign affairs committee.  

In addition to his political career, Mr. Lang, a public law professor, has served in several academic legal posts.  

“The international community, including the Security Council, has clearly emphasized the need to achieve and sustain substantive results in combating the scourge of piracy,” according to a UN release.  

“The human, commercial and security threats posed by piracy are enormous and widespread,” it continued.  

Yesterday, the Secretary-General told the Council in a meeting on the issue that there have been 139 piracy-related incidents off the coast of Somalia in the past seven months. Thirty ships have been hijacked, with 17 vessels and 450 seafarers being held for ransom.  

In 2008, 111 ships were attacked, and that number nearly doubled to 217 in 2009.  

“Over the past three years, the international community has made concerted efforts to combat the problem, including by establishing a Contact Group and deploying significant naval assets to the region,” he said.