impose any obligation upon countries to punish acts
of piracy jure gentium committed on the high seas.(1)
It merely recognises the right of any state to do so
irrespective of the nationality of the accused. Whe
right consists really in an exception to the
principle that states ought not, in general, to take
cognizance of crimes committed by foreigners out of the
jurisdiction, and it is left to each state to determine
for itself what acte, if any, committed by foreigners
on the high seas coming within the definition of
piracy jure gentium shall be punishable in its courts.
Acts committed on board, or producing their effects
apon its own vessels, are under international law
deemed to be committed within its jurisdiction and
therefore punishable under ita municipal lew, whether
constituting piracy jure gentium or not (see below
paragraph 10). Since a court can only punish as
•
crimes actions which it is definitely directed to punish
as such by some rule of law ap licable in that court,
and since there is no rule of international law which
actually directs acts of piracy jure gentium to be
punished, it follows that even if international law
were part of the law of England it would still be
necessary to find some rule of English law making
piracy punishable and more-over defining either expressly
or by necessary implication what specific acts were
punishable under that head.
(1) Thus Oppenheim, International Law, 4th Ed. Vol.1.
p.505, say B Nor does the Law of Nations
*
make "it a duty for every maritime State to punish all
"pirates"
-
and see below footnote 7. quotation from Oppenheim for a still more precise statement.
63