Piracy

1.      Piracy is a war like act committed by private parties not affiliated with any government that engage in acts of robbery and or criminal violence at sea. Maritime piracy, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS of 1982, consists of any criminal acts of violence, detention, rape, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the high seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft. Piracy can also be committed against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state, in fact piracy has been the first example of universal jurisdiction. Nevertheless today the international community is facing many problems in bringing pirates to justice. 

A.    There are legal barriers to prosecuting individuals captured in international waters. Countries are struggling to apply existing maritime law, international law, and their own laws, which limits them to having jurisdiction over their own citizens. According to piracy experts, the goal is to "deter and disrupt" pirate activity, and pirates are often detained, interrogated, disarmed, and released. With millions of dollars at stake, pirates have little incentive to stop. The United States has a statute imposing a sentence of life in prison for piracy "as defined by the law of nations" committed anywhere on the high seas, regardless of the nationality of the pirates or the victims. 

B.     If a state wishes to prosecute someone, it must have jurisdiction over the person. The state's relation to the actor or activity regulated often provides the basis of this jurisdiction. The most common and uncontroversial form of jurisdiction to prosecute is territorial jurisdiction. Territorial jurisdiction gives a state power to prescribe, adjudicate, and enforce its laws as to those actors, activities, and things that are found within its...