Piracy Act 1698

Last updated

Piracy Act 1698 [a]
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1694-1702).svg
Long title An Act for the more effectual Suppression of Piracy. [b]
Citation 11 Will. 3. c. 7
(Ruffhead: 11 & 12 Will. 3. c. 7)
Dates
Royal assent 11 April 1700
Other legislation
Amended by
Repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993
Relates to
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Piracy Act 1698 (11 Will. 3. c. 7) was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in the eleventh year of King William III. [1] The main purpose behind the statute was to make some corrections to the Offences at Sea Act 1536.

Contents

The Act

The Act states that "it hath been found by experience" that the courts met with "great trouble and charges in sending them into England" to be tried for their crimes or cannot easily "be questioned for such their piracies and robberies" because this was the necessary measure for enforcing the law under the Offences at Sea Act 1536 of Henry VIII. The Act changed this law to allow for acts of piracy to be "examined, inquired of, tried, heard and determined, and adjudged in any place at sea, or upon the land, in any of his Majesty's islands, plantations, colonies, dominions, forts, or factories". This enabled admirals to hold a court session to hear the trials of pirates in any place they deemed necessary, rather than requiring that the trial be held in England.

The Act then proceeds to explain what is required for these admiralty court sessions to function, how they will run, and what powers it grants to the commissioners. The commissioners can "call and assemble a court of admiralty when and as often as occasion shall require". In addition, these courts shall consist of at least seven people who "are known merchants, factors, or planters, or such as are captains, lieutenants, or warrant officers" and who are "fitting and voting in the said court". The Act also grants the commissioners of these vice-admiralty courts with "full power and authority" to issue warrants, summon the necessary witnesses, and "to do all thing necessary for the hearing and final determination of any case of piracy, robbery, or felony". The Act then moves to instruct the commissioners on the proceedings of the courts in a significant amount of detail ranging from the oath that the president of the court must take, what actions were to be taken upon pleas of guilty or not guilty, and how to examine witnesses and give sentence.

In addition, the act adds additional instances, not listed in the original Offences at Sea Act 1536, which expanded the legal definition of piracy as a capital crime. The first of these includes any subject of the crown who commits any act of piracy "under colour of any commission from any foreign prince or state". Additionally, any commander who "piratically and feloniously run away with his or their ships", anyone who may "consult, combine, or confederate" with any pirates, or "shall lay violent hands upon his commander whereby to hinder him from fighting" pirates who may be attempting to capture their vessel.

This Act also added the offence of being an accessory to piracy. Under the act, any individual who may "knowingly or willingly ... aid and assist, or maintain, procure, command, counsel, or advise" and persons to commit any act of piracy "shall be deemed and adjudged to be accessory to such piracy". This title of accessory was also extended to any persons who "receive, entertain, or conceal any such pirate or robber". These accessories "shall be enquired of, tried, heard, determined, and adjudged" following the original Offences at Sea Act 1536 and "shall suffer such pains of death" just as the pirates themselves would.

Legacy

The majority of the cases tried under these admiralty courts followed the exact proceedings laid out in the Act. In addition, most pirates appeared to have been given a fair trial because, if the accused could not be confirmed to have taken part in the said piracy by witness testimony, they were often acquitted. However, in the High Court of Admiralty, murder was almost always considered the more serious charge. In fact, during a 1737 case in which Edward Johnson and Nicholas Williams were being tried, the counsel proceeded with the murder charge after stating: *I will not touch upon the Piracy, that will come under your consideration hereafter." [2] This shows that the counsel prosecuted the accused for piracy only after the trial for murder was finished.

Repeal

The death penalty under this Act was abolished by the Piracy Act 1837.

In the United Kingdom, the whole Act was repealed by section 1(1) of, and Group 2 of Part I of Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993.

The Piracy Act 1698 was repealed for the Australian Capital Territory by section 6(1) of, and Part 4.11 of Schedule 4 to, the Statute Law Amendment Act 2002 (No 2) . [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treason Act 1351</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England wherethrough, according to William Blackstone, common law treason offences were enumerated and no new offences were, by statute, created. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has been very significantly amended. It was extended to Ireland in 1495 and to Scotland in 1708. The Act was passed at Westminster in the Hilary term of 1351, in the 25th year of the reign of Edward III and was entitled "A Declaration which Offences shall be adjudged Treason". It was passed to clarify precisely what was treason, as the definition under common law had been expanded rapidly by the courts until its scope was controversially wide. The Act was last used to prosecute William Joyce in 1945 for collaborating with Germany in World War II.

Summary jurisdiction, in the widest sense of the phrase, in English law includes the power asserted by courts of record to deal brevi manu with contempts of court without the intervention of a jury. Probably the power was originally exercisable only when the fact was notorious, i.e. done in presence of the court. But it has long been exercised as to extra curial contempts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offences Against the Person Act 1861</span> UK criminal statute

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act, incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier consolidation act, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828, incorporating subsequent statutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malicious Damage Act 1861</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Malicious Damage Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to malicious damage from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act, incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier consolidation Act, the Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827, incorporating subsequent statutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy Act 1717</span> Act of the Parliament of Great Britain

The Piracy Act 1717, sometimes called the Transportation Act 1717, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that established a regulated, bonded system to transport criminals to colonies in North America for indentured service, as a punishment for those convicted or attainted in Great Britain, excluding Scotland. The Act established a seven-year transportation sentence as a punishment for people convicted of lesser felonies, and a fourteen-year sentence for more serious crimes, in lieu of capital punishment. Completion of the sentence had the effect of a pardon; the punishment for returning before completion was death. It is commonly accepted that 30,000 convicts may have been transported to the British American colonies, with some estimates going as high as 50,000.

The Articles of War are a set of regulations drawn up to govern the conduct of a country's military and naval forces. The first known usage of the phrase is in Robert Monro's 1637 work His expedition with the worthy Scot's regiment called Mac-keyes regiment etc. and can be used to refer to military law in general. In Swedish, the equivalent term Krigsartiklar, is first mentioned in 1556. However, the term is usually used more specifically and with the modern spelling and capitalisation to refer to the British regulations drawn up in the wake of the Glorious Revolution and the United States regulations later based on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy Act 1837</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Piracy Act 1837 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished the death penalty for most offences of piracy, but created a new offence often known as piracy with violence, which was punishable with death. This offence still exists in the United Kingdom and in Ireland, but is no longer punishable by death in either country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offences at Sea Act 1799</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Offences at Sea Act 1799 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It is still in force. It extended the jurisdiction of British courts to crimes committed by British subjects on the high seas. It does not apply to foreign citizens. Jurisdiction over piracy on the high seas already existed before 1799, whether committed by British subjects or not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy Act 1721</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Piracy Act 1721 (c.24) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accessories and Abettors Act 1861</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 is a mainly repealed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated statutory English criminal law related to accomplices, including many classes of encouragers (inciters). Mainly its offences were, according to the draftsman of the Act, replacement enactments with little or no variation in phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It collected the relevant parts of Peel's Acts and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interpretation Act 1889</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Interpretation Act 1889 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated enactments relating to statutory construction and provided definitions to shorten the language used in acts of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mutiny.

Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets another person in the commission of a crime. It exists in a number of different countries and generally allows a court to pronounce someone guilty for aiding and abetting in a crime even if he or she is not the principal offender. The words aiding, abetting and accessory are closely used but have differences. While aiding means providing support or assistance to someone, abetting means encouraging someone else to commit a crime. Accessory is someone who in fact assists "commission of a crime committed primarily by someone else". However, some jurisdictions have merged being an accessory before the fact with aiding and abetting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal Law Act 1826</span> Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Criminal Law Act 1826 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated a large number of acts relating to criminal procedure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piracy Act 1850</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Piracy Act 1850, sometimes called the Pirates Repeal Act 1850, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It relates to proceedings for the condemnation of ships and other things taken from pirates and creates an offence of perjury in such proceedings.

Offences at Sea Act or Crimes at Sea Act is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom relating to the piracy and other offences within the jurisdiction of the admiralty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal law in the Marshall Court</span>

The Marshall Court (1801–1835) heard forty-one criminal law cases, slightly more than one per year. Among such cases are United States v. Simms (1803), United States v. More (1805), Ex parte Bollman (1807), United States v. Hudson (1812), Cohens v. Virginia (1821), United States v. Perez (1824), Worcester v. Georgia (1832), and United States v. Wilson (1833).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimes Act of 1790</span> US bill

The Crimes Act of 1790, formally titled An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States, defined some of the first federal crimes in the United States and expanded on the criminal procedure provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Crimes Act was a "comprehensive statute defining an impressive variety of federal crimes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal Law Act 1827</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Criminal Law Act 1827 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, applicable only to England and Wales. It abolished many obsolete procedural devices in English criminal law, particularly the benefit of clergy. It was repealed by the Criminal Law Act 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders Abroad Act 1817</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Murders Abroad Act 1817 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It made it easier for a court to punish "murders or manslaughters committed in places not within His Majesty's dominions", and it received royal assent on 27 June 1817. The act specifically mentioned the Bay of Honduras, New Zealand, and Otaheite.

References

Citations

  1. 'William III, 1698-9: An Act for the more effectual suppression of Piracy. [Chapter VII. Rot. Parl. 11 Gul. III. p. 2. n. 5.]', Statutes of the Realm: volume 7: 1695-1701 (1820), pp. 590-94. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46966. Date accessed: 16 February 2007.
  2. Old Bailey Proceedings Online (accessed 29 November 2012), Trial of Edward Johnson, Nicholas Williams, Lawrence Senett, Nicholas Wolf, Pierce Butler, and John Bryan . (t17370224-2, 24 February 1737).
  3. "Statute Law Amendment Act 2002 (No. 2) (ACT)". ACT Legislation Register. ACT Government . Retrieved 29 November 2022.

Notes

  1. The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by section 5 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1948. Due to the repeal of those provisions, it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
  2. These words are printed against this Act in the second column of Schedule 2 to the Statute Law Revision Act 1948, which is headed "Title".