Offences at Sea Act 1806
| Year | 1806 |
(46 Geo. 3) C A P. LIV.
[23d May 1806]
'WHEREAS by an Act of Parliament, made in the Twenty-eighth Year of the Reign of KingHenry the Eighth, it is enacted, That all Treasons, Felonies, Robberies, Murders, and Confederacies, committed on the Sea, shall be enquired of, tried, and determined, according to the common Course of the Laws of this Land used for such Offences upon the Land within this Realm: And whereas by another Act of Parliament, made in the EleventhYear of the Reign of KingWilliam the Third, intituled, An Act for the more effectual Suppression of Piracy , it is enacted, that all Piracies, Felonies, and Robberies, committed on the Sea, or in any Haven, River, Creek, or Place, where the Admiral or Admirals have Power, Authority, or Jurisdiction, may be examined, enquired of, tried, heard, and determined, and adjudged, in any Place at Sea, or upon the Land, in any of His Majesty's Islands, Plantations, Colonies, Dominions, Forts, or Factories, to be appointed for that Purpose by the King's Commission, in the Manner therein directed, and according to the Rules of the Civil Law: And whereas Treasons, Murders, and divers other Felonies and Misdemeanours, not mentioned in the said Statute of the Eleventh Year of the Reign of King William the Third, cannot be tried by virtue of any Commission directed under that Act, but the Persons committing, or charged with having committed the same upon the Seas in or near the East or West Indies , and in Places very remote, can only be brought to Trial by sending them to England to be tried within this Realm, under the Commission directed by the said Statute of the Twenty-eighth Year of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth; whereby not only great Charges and Expences are incurred, but Offenders do oftentimes escape unpunished by reason of the Delay and Difficulties attending such Prosecutions: For Remedy whereof, and in order that one uniform Course of Trial may be had for all Treasons, Piracies, Felonies, Robberies, Murders, Conspiracies, and other Offences committed upon the Seas;' be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authorityof the same, That all Treasons, Piracies, Felonies, Robberies, Murders, Conspiracies, and...
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