CO129-534-9 Law of Piracy- case of Rex v. Chung Tam Kwong 1-4-1931 - 20-4-1932 — Page 34

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the Statute 1 Vic. c. 88 (an Act to amend certain Acts

relating to the crime of piracy), and as I read this part

of the Judgment it is clear that the Court had jurisdiction

to deal with offences under that Statute. Section 2 of the

Statute provides that any person who with intent to commit

or at the time of or immediately before or immediately after

committing the crime of piracy shall assault with intent to

murder any person being on board of or belonging to any

vessel or shall stab cut or wound any such person or unlawfully

do any act by which the life of such person may be end angered

shall be guilty of felony and being convicted there of shall

suffer death.

As I understand the facts of the case, the persons who

were unsuccessfully indicted for piracy in the Courts of

Hong Kong were caught red-handed in an attack on a vessel, shots

were fired by the attacking party, who chased the cargo junk for

over half an hour. In these circumstances I should have thought

that any person concerned in that attack was clearly guilty of

unlawfully doing some act by which the life of a person belong in g

to a vessel might be endangered; I cannot imagine any more

dangerous proceeding than firing point-blank at the crew of a

ship.