Piracy
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 18 U.S. 71 - United States v. Smith · 1820Most cited · 211 citing opinions
definition by law of nations
There is scarcely a writer on the law of nations, who does not allude to piracy as a crime of a settled and determinate nature; and whatever may be the diversity of definitions, in other respects, all writers concur, in holding, that robbery, or forcible depredations' upon the sea, animo furandi, is piracy. The same doctrine is held by all the great writers on maritime law, in terms that admit of no reasonable doubt.
How often courts cite the cases defining “Piracy”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “Piracy” — 216 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 2 definitions, chronological · 1792–1820
- ORIGINAL
In England, if piracy was committed by a subject, it was held a species of treason, being contrary to his allegiance by the ancient common law; if by an alien, it was held to be felony. Formerly it was cognizable by the Admiralty Courts, which proceed by the rules of the civil law; but the statute 28 Henry 8. g. 15. established a new jurisdiction for this purpose, which proceeds according to the course of the Common Law.
in English law