PIRATE and PIRACY. Sir J. Fitzjames Stephen in his Digest of Criminal Law defined piracy as follows : "Taking a ship on the High Seas or within the jurisdiction of the Lord High Ad miral from the possession or control of those who are lawfully entitled to it and carrying away the ship itself or any of its goods, tackle, apparel or furniture under circumstances which would have amounted to robbery if the act had been done within the body of an English county." (Cf. A. G. for Hong-Kong v. Kwok-a-Sing, 1873, L.R. 5 P.C. 179.) Piracy, being a crime not against any particular State but against all mankind, may be punished under international law in the competent court of any country where the offender may be found or into which he may be carried. But, whilst the practice of nations gives to every one the right to pursue and exterminate pirates without any pre vious declaration of war (pirates holding no commission or dele gated authority from any sovereign or state), they may not be killed without trial except in battle. Those who surrender or are taken prisoners must be brought before the proper tribunal and dealt with according to law.
Following the sinking of merchant vessels at sight by German submarines in the World War, by the Washington Treaties (1921- 22) between the United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, attacks upon, and destruction of, merchant vessels upon visit and search by any person in the service of any Power were declared acts of piracy, and such persons may be brought to trial before the civil or military authorities of any Power within the jurisdiction of which he may be found. It was held by the Federal District Court of New York, in the suits brought against the Cunard Steamship company for damages arising out of the sinking at sight of the "Lusitania" by a German submarine, that such sinking was an illegal act. See The Lusitania, (1918) 251 Fed. 715; Scott's Cases, 784-90. (X.) It is impossible to say at what period in the world's history piracy began. References to this form of robbery occur in early literature. It was rampant in the Mediterranean in the days of
the Roman republic, and it is recorded that Julius Caesar, when a young man, fell into the clutches of a gang of sea-robbers who held him prisoner until ransomed, and that of ter his release he returned with some soldiers who captured his late gaolers and crucified the whole crew. Amongst the early pirates of which records still exist are the Phoenicians, while there are numerous references to sea-rovers in the Odyssey. Out of the dim North, the Vikings (q.v.) are known to have come south to plunder the coasts of Britain, Ireland and France, in A.D. 789 and onwards. For many centuries the north-west coast of Africa was the head quarters of the Barbary pirates (q.v.) or Moors, as they were commonly called, who had their chief strongholds at Algiers, Sale and Tripoli. From these harbours they sailed out to harry passing ships, or plunder the opposite coast of Spain, carrying back their Christian captives to sell as slaves. In spite of nu merous punitive attacks, these fierce sea-robbers were not finally stamped out until 1830. All through the Tudor reigns piracy was rampant around the British isles, particularly in the south of Ireland and in the Scilly isles, where safe retreats existed for the pirate and where receivers of plunder were to be found willing to buy the goods that the pirate had to offer.
As in the case of the land thief, the sea thief could not exist without a market for his ill-gotten goods. It would be useless for a pirate to seize a well-laden merchant ship, if he had nowhere he could dispose of his prize. Sir William Monson in his book Naval Tracts, records how he was sent in 1605 to search for pirates in the Shetlands and Hebrides. But it was in Ireland where he found what he looked for. At Broad Haven he met with an Irish gentleman, of the name of Cormat or Cormac, whose house he describes as being the "well-head of all pirates." Here the Irishman lived in great style and trafficked with the pirate captains, many of whom were the lovers of his daughters.