Definition

Piracy (law of the sea) [Ro.: piraterie, Fr.: piraterie, Sp.: piratería, It.: pirateria, Gr.: πειρατία] = the action of one ship (or more) attacking another ship (or more) on the sea, with the purpose of stealing the latter`s goods. Those who commit piracy are called pirates. Sometimes, they even kill or take prisoners or sink the attacked ships. It used to be more frequent during the past centuries, but it`s present even nowadays in some areas of the globe. Piracy can also be committed on air planes or used by terrorist organisations.

~ aircraft hijacking [Ro.: deturnare de avion, Fr.: détournement d'avion, Sp.: piratería aérea, It.: dirottamento aereo, Gr.: αεροπειρατία] (See also: skyjacking, air piracy, aircraft piracy, air robbery) = a group of people taking control over an airplane, often with political motives, and making demands, usually to a state or institution. It is often considered an act of terrorism.

 

Useful Links

Legislation

https://legeaz.net/noul-cod-penal/art-235 - Romanian Criminal Code, Articles 235-237 [Romanian]

http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Articles 101-103 [English]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/369/pdfs/uksi_20160369_en.pdf - The Aviation Security and Piracy (Overseas Territories) (Amendment) Order 2016 [English UK]

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1837/88/pdfs/ukpga_18370088_en.pdf - Piracy Act 1837 [English UK]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1850/26/pdfs/ukpga_18500026_en.pdf - Piracy Act 1850 [English UK]

http://constitutionus.com/#a1s8c10 - Constitution of the U.S.A., Article 1, Section 8, Clause 10 [English USA]

http://codes.droit.org/CodV3/penal.pdf - French Criminal Code, Article 224-6 [French]

http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Penal/lo10-1995.l2t24.html#c5 - Spanish Criminal Code [Spanish]

https://www.studiocataldi.it/normativa/codice-della-navigazione/artt-1088-1160.asp - Italian Navigation Code, Article 1135 [Italian]

Organisations and associations

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/index.htm - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

http://www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm - United Nations Oceans and Law of the Sea

https://oneearthfuture.org/about - One Earth Future

http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/ - Oceans Beyond Piracy

https://www.interpol.int/en/Crime-areas/Maritime-piracy/Maritime-piracy - INTERPOL

https://www.icc-ccs.org/ - Commercial Crime Services, a specialised division of the International Chamber of Commerce

http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Security/PiracyArmedRobbery/Pages/Default.aspx - International Maritime Organisation

https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/our-work/piracy - International Seafarers` Welfare and Assistance Network

Case law

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/43/210/ - United States Supreme Court, U.S. v. The Brig Malek Adhel, 1844

http://www.uniset.ca/other/cs5/LR5PC179.html - High Court of Justiciary (Scotland), Attorney General of Hong Kong v. Kwok-a-Sing, 1873

http://www.uniset.ca/other/cs5/1934AC586.html - High Court of Justiciary (Scotland), Privy Council, 1934

http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=153909&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=2364515 - E.U. Court of Justice, European Parliament v. Council of the European Union, 2014

https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:HR:2016:2762&keyword=15/03756 - Dutch Supreme Court, ECLI:NL:HR:2016:2762, 2016 (for an English short version, read here

Online publications

https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=26819 - Elleman, B., A., Rosenberg, D., Forbes, A., Piracy and Maritime Crime: Historical and Modern Case Studies, 2010, Naval War College U.S. Press

https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/maritime-security/428/fight-against-piracy_en - European Union External Action, 2016

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3269105 - Fenton, A., J., Chapsos, I., Prosecuting Pirates: Maritime Piracy and Indonesian Law, 2018, Australian Journal of Asian Law

https://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Maritime-piracy/Maritime-piracy - Gottlieb, Y., Combating Maritime Piracy: Inter-Disciplinary Cooperation and Information Sharing, 2014, Case Western Journal of International Law

https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=31416, Kraska, J., September 2009, Fresh Thinking for an Old Problem: Report of the Naval War College Workshop on Countering Maritime Piracy, Naval War College U.S.

https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=12005, Mason, R., C., December 13 2010, Piracy: A legal definition, Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=25088, O`Rourke, R., Blanchard, C., M., Blanchard, L., Piracy off the Horn of Africa, April 19 2010, CRS Report for Congress

Publications

Bogdan, S., 2014, Noul Cod Penal: analize, explicații, comentarii: perspectiva clujeană. Vol. 2: Partea speciala, București, Ed. Universul Juridic

Dubner, B., 1980, The Law of International Sea Piracy, Hague/Boston/London, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Kraska, J., 2011, Contemporary Maritime Piracy: international law, strategy, and diplomacy at sea, Santa Barbera, ABC-CLIO, LLC

 

By Oana Bahnean