Abstract
The collection of guidelines, rules and regulations that control how seas, oceans, and other
navigable waters are used is known as international maritime law. Navigation, maritime
boundaries, shipping, piracy, marine environmental protection, fisheries, maritime security, and
dispute resolution are among the topics it controls. Questions of jurisdiction and enforcement
continue to be among the most complicated facets of international maritime law because maritime
operations take place across national and international borders. While enforcement refers to the
methods available to guarantee adherence to such rules, jurisdiction establishes a state's legal
capacity to create, implement, and execute laws inside marine spaces. Treaties, customary
international law, and organisations like the United Nations, International marine Organization,
and International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea all play a major role in regulating the
international marine system. Despite the existence of comprehensive legal frameworks such as the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, serious jurisdictional and
enforcement challenges persist. These challenges include conflicts of jurisdiction, weak
enforcement capacity, piracy, illegal fishing, marine pollution, and difficulties associated with
transnational maritime crimes. This work uses the doctrinal research methodology to review the
major jurisdictional principles and enforcement issues affecting international maritime law and
evaluates their implications for global maritime governance.