!
90
of the Admiralty which had been given to
commissioners by the offences at Sea Act, 1536,
(28 Hen. VIII, c.15). It is from this latter statute
that the courts in Angland trace their jurisdiction
to proceed in the trial of piracy jure gentium. By section 1 of this statute "all treasons, felonies, robberies, murders and confederacies hereafter to
be committed in or upon the sea etc. shall be
It
inquired ...........................in like form and condition as
if any such offence .....had been committed.............. upon
the land........after the common course of the laws
of this realm used for treasons, felonies, murders,
robberies and confederacies of the same done and
committed upon the land within this realm". is under this act that indictments in England for piracy have been laid and criminal proceedings have
been conducted. This act is not concerned only
with piracy but includes the other crimes set out
in its terms. It is now definitely recognised that
the act conferred a jurisdiction over foreigners in foreign ships in respect of piracy but that in respect of other crimes the jurisdiction granted is confined to British subjects and/or to British
ships.
The
At the trial I refused an application to
quash the indictment. The application was made
on the ground that no robbery was disclosed.
matter was not then argued very fully. When I
allowed the trial to proceed, my decision was
influenced by the idea that the admiralty offences
(Colonial) Act, 1849, (12 & 13 Vict., c.96), on which
the
Page 90Page 91