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| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to amend certain Acts relating to the Crime of Piracy. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 88 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 July 1837 |
| Commencement | 1 October 1837[b] |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1874 |
| Relates to | |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| Text of the Piracy Act 1837 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
ThePiracy Act 1837[a] (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 88) is anact of theParliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished thedeath penalty for most offences ofpiracy, but created a new offence often known aspiracy with violence, which was punishable with death. This offence still exists in theUnited Kingdom and inIreland, but is no longer punishable by death in either country.
Section 2 of the act creates the offence of piracy with violence:
Whosoever, with intent to commit or at the time of or immediately before or immediately after committing the crime of piracy in respect of any ship or vessel, shall assault, with intent to murder, any person being on board of or belonging to such ship or vessel, or shall stab, cut, or wound any such person, or unlawfully do any act by which the life of such person may be endangered, shall be guilty of felony...
The offences of piracy which existed in 1837 have since been abolished. The "crime of piracy" mentioned in section 2 is now defined by theMerchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 (in section 26 and Schedule 5),[1] which simply sets out articles 101 to 103 of theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982):
Article 101
Definition of piracy
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
- (a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, anddirected—
- (i) on thehigh seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
- (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
- (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
- (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).
Article 102
Piracy by a warship, government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied
The acts of piracy, as defined in article 101, committed by a warship, government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied and taken control of the ship or aircraft are assimilated to acts committed by a private ship or aircraft.
Article 103
Definition of a pirate ship or aircraft
A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of committing one of the acts referred to in article 101. The same applies if the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.
Since this definition is restricted to the high seas, piracy in Britishterritorial waters would today be treated asrobbery,assault orattempted murder under theTerritorial Waters Jurisdiction Act 1878, or as hijacking under theAviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 (which can also be applied to piracy on the high seas).[original research?]
In 1998 the mandatory death penalty was abolished by theCrime and Disorder Act 1998, and the sentence is now up tolife imprisonment.
Ireland abolished the death penalty for piracy in 1964.[2] The act remains in force.[3]
2
