An Invisible Bridge between Nations; Protection of Submarine Communication Cables in the Mirror of Tallinn Manual 2.0

Background and Theoretical Foundations:  

Submarine communication cables currently carry the largest volume of international voice, data and video traffic in the world, and are a key component of telecommunication cyber infrastructure and international information traffic. Data transmission through cable is both cheaper and several times faster than satellite. In land areas, cables are usually protected by owners and national jurisdiction, while protection in the sea, whether physical or legal, is more difficult. Modern submarine cables use fiber optic technology to transmit data at the speed of light. Therefore, the cables that provide this connectivity are part of our critical infrastructure and must be preserved to protect the data governance needed to function in a modern society. Despite such importance, submarine cable systems are vulnerable to various emerging cyber security challenges. International laws that can potentially respond to these challenges have significant gaps regarding the security of such cables in maritime areas. In the legal regime established in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, this important but invisible subgect. Given that traditional international law is remarkably oblivious to cyber security and its threatening factors, this situation is not surprising. In the meantime, the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on International Law Applicable to Cyber Opreations (hereinafter, Tallinn Manual 2.0 or the Manual) has been able to describe and evaluate the actions taken in the cyberspace in terms of international law with detailed studies conducted by an international group of experts. The only research background that has been written in Persian on this topic is the article entitled "Legal Dimensions of Submarine Communication Cable; From Conflict of Interests to the Ruling Rights of the Coastal State" by Javad Salehi which was published in the Journal of Energy Law Studies. This article is very valuable in terms of evaluating the obligations of the coastal states towards the submarine cables and it is comprehensive and well-deserved. However, in other dimensions related to such cables, and especially from the perspective of evaluating the current international legal system, which is intended in this article, it does not meet the needs of the researcher. Furthermore, it does not address the approach followed by Tallinn Manual 2.0 concerning the protection of submarine communication cables. Taking into accont Tallinn Manual 2.0, Our basic question in this article is whether the current legal regime is sufficient and reliable to ensure the security of the vast network of cables that pass through the ocean floor and thus ensure the security of the world's telecommunication systems?

Employing a descriptive-analytical method, using library resources and referring to the Tallinn Manual 2.0, the authors try to examine the protection of submarine communication cables in the mirror of the Manual.  

  Existing rules are ineffective in a world increasingly defined by network redundancy and interconnectivity, and this is the very point not even addressed in the Tallinn Manual 2.0. Since in the era of technological advancements submarine cables are becoming increasingly important for global infrastructure, the existing regime governing them is reminiscent of an abnormal neglect in international regulation and calls for more intergovernmental cooperation and It is also necessary to review the laws governing the protection of cables.  

 Since in the era of technological advancements submarine cables are becoming increasingly important for global infrastructure, the existing regime governing them is a reminder of abnormal neglect in international regulation and requires more intergovernmental cooperation as well as amendment of the laws governing the protection of cables. Also, unifying the protection of communication cables and preventing damage to the cable at any point requires that any distinctive legal features among the countries that are connected to the same cables be identified and harmonized. In this regard, it is not far-fetched to propose establishement of commissions for the unification of legal rules consisting of legal experts from the member states at regional levels.