CO129-508-4 Cases of attacks by pirates 6-11-1927 - 23-11-1928 — Page 221

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All

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jurisdiction of any state whose reasela osa sapture him",

Dr. wu's whole case, in fact, rests on point (1) and the

question is, what constitutes piracy? He realises that

him only line is to prove that the case of the "Irene"

was not one of piracy, but of banditry. 1.0. an offenes

punishable only by the authorities of the country within

whose jurisdiction it took plac0.

The o ime of piracy is differently defined by the

various writers of international law. The peculiar form

of primoy now practised in Chinese waters, i.e. piracy from

within and not from another ship, is more modern than most

of these definitions, but nevertheless it seems to be

oove ed by the spirit if not by the letter of many of them.

Thus Molloy defines a pirate as "a sen thief, a hostis

humani generis who, to enrich himself, either by surprise

or open foree sets upon merchants or other traders by sea".

This seems to cover the Uhinese pirates, Piracy is

me

described by Ient as " robbery or a forcible depredation

on the High Seas without lawful authority and done animo

farandi and in the spirit and intention of universal

hostility"; and by Phillimore as "An assault upon vessels

navigating on the High seas, committed animo furandi, whether

the robbery or forcible depredation be effected or not and

whether or not it be accompanied by murder or personal

injury". Heffter sașe that piracy "consiste daus l'arresta-

tion et dans la prise violente de navires et des bienm qui

sảy trouvent dans un but de luere et san justifier d'une

commission delivres à cet effet par un gouvernement

responsable".

These

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