Lt. Liliana Díaz Medina (Mexico) was awarded the IMO Secretary-General’s Prize for Best Dissertation during the Institute’s 28^th Annual Graduation Ceremony held at the Malta Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa, Malta on 27 May 2017. The Prize was awarded by His Excellency Mr. Kitack Lim (Secretary-General, IMO) who presided over the Graduation Ceremony.

Lt. Díaz Medina’s dissertation, entitled ‘The Effectiveness of Current International Ship-Boarding Provisions to Combat Crime at Sea’ enquires whether the current international ship-boarding provisions are effective enough to successfully combat crime at sea. She analyses the legal impact on the implementation of international ship-boarding provisions to foreign vessels as a mechanism to fight against crime at sea and the operational and legal challenges in exercising the Right of Visit. She uses real case studies and her personal experience as a military legal advisor to the Mexican Navy.

Lt. Díaz Medina’s dissertation was supervised by Professor Norman Martínez (Associate Professor, IMLI). Her studies at IMLI were made possible thanks to the generous funds of The Nippon Foundation.

Dissertation is a research work undertaken by students on topical issues mainly in maritime law and the law of the sea as a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Maritime Law.