2 Background: Bilateral and Multilateral Treaties
of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Prior to the First World War, piracy tended to be a matter for bilateral treaties. Most
of these represented agreements between Great Britain (including the British East
India Company), France, or the United States with other countries—including other
“Western” states, Arab sheikdoms, and Malay sultanates.
1 The practice was, however, multilaterally condemned at the 1815 Congress of Vienna
2 and was also
referred to (“Piracy as commonly known and defined by the Law of Nations”) in
the 1902 Treaty for the Extradition of Criminals and for Protection Against
Anarchism.
3
Cognate problems also attracted a certain amount of multilateral attention during
this period. In 1823, President Madison proposed an International Convention for
Maritime and Commercial Neutrality to the great powers, which would have banned
the practice of privateering had it been adopted.
4 The Treaty of Paris of 1856, which
ended the Crimean War, outlawed privateering,
5 but only for those who signed or
acceded to the document. (The United States’ failure to do so came back to haunt it
during the American Civil War, the only major belligerent use of privateers after
1854.)
6 “Multilateral treaties combatting the slave trade . . . [were] also of significance because of analogies with piracy in state municipal laws.”
7
In this period, piracy “as commonly known and defined by the Law of Nations”
really represented the views of a few maritime superpowers, and indeed was not
defined in international multilateral treaties. Concrete definition aside, however, it is
clear that most states had a general idea of the sort of conduct that was being
prohibited, and that even at this early period, piracy was serving as a template to
outlaw or control analogous behaviors such as privateering and slave trading.
2.1 Draft Piracy Codes
1924 saw an attempt by the League of Nations to codify certain aspects of international law. In considering piracy, the relevant subcommittee noted that,
1 See Rubin (1998), pp. 452–454; Menefee (1995), p. 5.
2 Menefee (1995), p. 6; United Nations (1960), p. 266, para 81.
3 Treaty for the Extradition of Criminals and for Protection Against Anarchism, at 185; Menefee
(1990), p. 136.
4 Menefee (1995), p. 6; Colombos (1962), p. 472.
5 See generally Stark (1897).
6 See Menefee (1987), p. 206 n. 13.
7 Menefee (1995), p. 6. See also Menefee (1990), pp. 134–136.
548
S. P. Menefee
of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Prior to the First World War, piracy tended to be a matter for bilateral treaties. Most
of these represented agreements between Great Britain (including the British East
India Company), France, or the United States with other countries—including other
“Western” states, Arab sheikdoms, and Malay sultanates.
1 The practice was, however, multilaterally condemned at the 1815 Congress of Vienna
2 and was also
referred to (“Piracy as commonly known and defined by the Law of Nations”) in
the 1902 Treaty for the Extradition of Criminals and for Protection Against
Anarchism.
3
Cognate problems also attracted a certain amount of multilateral attention during
this period. In 1823, President Madison proposed an International Convention for
Maritime and Commercial Neutrality to the great powers, which would have banned
the practice of privateering had it been adopted.
4 The Treaty of Paris of 1856, which
ended the Crimean War, outlawed privateering,
5 but only for those who signed or
acceded to the document. (The United States’ failure to do so came back to haunt it
during the American Civil War, the only major belligerent use of privateers after
1854.)
6 “Multilateral treaties combatting the slave trade . . . [were] also of significance because of analogies with piracy in state municipal laws.”
7
In this period, piracy “as commonly known and defined by the Law of Nations”
really represented the views of a few maritime superpowers, and indeed was not
defined in international multilateral treaties. Concrete definition aside, however, it is
clear that most states had a general idea of the sort of conduct that was being
prohibited, and that even at this early period, piracy was serving as a template to
outlaw or control analogous behaviors such as privateering and slave trading.
2.1 Draft Piracy Codes
1924 saw an attempt by the League of Nations to codify certain aspects of international law. In considering piracy, the relevant subcommittee noted that,
1 See Rubin (1998), pp. 452–454; Menefee (1995), p. 5.
2 Menefee (1995), p. 6; United Nations (1960), p. 266, para 81.
3 Treaty for the Extradition of Criminals and for Protection Against Anarchism, at 185; Menefee
(1990), p. 136.
4 Menefee (1995), p. 6; Colombos (1962), p. 472.
5 See generally Stark (1897).
6 See Menefee (1987), p. 206 n. 13.
7 Menefee (1995), p. 6. See also Menefee (1990), pp. 134–136.
548
S. P. Menefee