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Rascals, Scoundrels, Villains, and Knaves: The Evolution of the Law of Piracy from Ancient Times to the Present*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Abstract

This paper begins by tracking the history of piracy from Greek and Roman times, to the Golden Age of piracy, into modern day. It also looks at the motivations for becoming a pirate and the “piracy cycle.” The paper then moves into a discussion of how piracy has influenced the law, such as its impact on Universal Jurisdiction and international treaties like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; however, a stable definition of what constitutes “piracy” has become troublesome, even with the abundance of legal sources related to the subject. The paper then moves into a discussion of three US court cases dealing with the issue of piracy: the first from the Golden Age of piracy, the second in the early part of this century showing how piracy is not always prosecuted in the traditional sense, and finally with the case of the famous pirate the US Navy SEALS captured during the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama. Finally, the paper concludes the discussion using the modern day situation of Somalia to show how the “piracy cycle” is still capable of explaining what draws people to piracy, how that particular situation has been combated by the international community, and how neighboring countries, like Kenya, are using their own court systems to the advantage of the rest of the world.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by the International Association of Law Libraries. 

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259 Gettleman, supra note 183, at A8. As an example, the EU has invested around $3 million in Kenya's judicial system, with some of those funds going towards building a special court for piracy trials. However, In September 2010, Kenya announced it was ending the agreement with the EU, accusing it of failing to keep its side of the bargain. No Stopping Them, supra note 208, at 71.Google Scholar

260 VOANews.com, supra note 203.Google Scholar

261 Gettleman, supra note 183, at A8. Kenya is not the only foreign state trying pirates even without a nexus. Other regional countries of note include Tanzania and the Seychelles, but Kenya has experienced the largest influx of piracy trials and convictions. No Stopping Them, supra note 208, at 71.Google Scholar

262 Kontorovich, supra note 204Google Scholar

263 Kayleigh Shebs, EU, Kenya Reach Pirate Prosecution Agreement, Jurist Legal News and Research, Mar. 6, 2009, http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/-2009/03/eu-kenya-reach-pirate-prosecution.php.Google Scholar

264 James Thuo Gathii, Jurisdiction to Prosecute Non-National Pirates Captured by Third States Under Kenyan and International Law 4 (March 16, 2009), available at http.//works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=james_gathii.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

266 Constitution of Kenya §60(1).Google Scholar

267 Gathii, supra note 264, at 7.Google Scholar

268 Id. at 8.Google Scholar

269 Id. at 9.Google Scholar

270 Azim, supra note 3.Google Scholar

271 Azim, supra note 3.Google Scholar

272 Personal conversation with Professor James Gathii, Albany Law School Oct. 5, 2009 [hereinafter Conversation].Google Scholar

274 VOANews.com, supra note 203.Google Scholar

275 Azim, supra note 3.Google Scholar

276 VOANews.com, supra note 203.Google Scholar

277 See generally, Murquand, supra note 224.Google Scholar

281 Azim, supra note 3.Google Scholar

282 Azim, supra note 3. Some other options are to use the court systems of those countries that initially capture the pirates, often due to the fact that in those specific attacks the citizens of that country are the ones who were threatened. Examples of countries that have done this include the United States and South Korea. Hyung-Jin Kim, 5 Somalis Brought to South Korea on Piracy Charges, Associated Press, Jan. 30, 2011, available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41337648/ns/world_news-asiapacific/.Google Scholar