Existing comment:
The word "piracy" is derived from piera deceptio, which connotes deceit or deception. It also has roots in the word "peiron" to wander up and down, to rest in no place, and to travel about with indent to do mischief.
These "enemies of the human race" are then, by definition, those who act solely on their own authority, without commission or authorization from the sovereign state, who seize by force and appropriate to themselves, without discrimination, every vessel they encounter.
-- Adapted from Davison v. Seal-Skins, C.C.Conn 1835, 7 F. Cas. 192, No. 3661, Criminal Law 45.50 |