piracy
In international law, piracy is defined in Article 101 of UNCLOS: any illegal act of violence, detention or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or passengers of a private ship or aircraft against another ship, persons or property on the high seas or outside any State's jurisdiction. Similar acts within territorial waters are “armed robbery at sea”, not piracy.
Pirates are treated as hostis humani generis (enemies of all mankind), and every State may seize a pirate ship and try the offenders: a classic case of universal jurisdiction. India enacted the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022. In intellectual property, “piracy” loosely means copyright infringement.
Example
Because piracy attracts universal jurisdiction, the Indian Navy could seize the pirate vessel on the high seas and hand the accused over for trial in India.
In Indian law
- Articles 101 and 105, UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982
- Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022
See also
hostis humani generis · universal jurisdiction · high seas
Read more in the study notes
- Criminal conspiracy and attempt (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Cognizance, dismissal of complaints, commencement of proceedings and limitation (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
- Crime: meaning, elements and stages (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Abetment (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Abetment of suicide, organised crime and terrorist act (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Offences against the State (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)