The Criminalisation of Piracy – Between Heinousness and Imperialism
| Author | Amira Nassim |
The Criminalisation of Piracy – Between Heinousness and
Imperialism
Amira Nassim*
The high seas have been a scene for piracy since maritime commerce
existed between states. From the Persian Gulf, Caribbean, North
America, China and the ‘Barbary States’ of North Africa to modern-day
piracy in the Horn of Africa, piracy has provided a substantive threat to
trade as well as an ideological one by challenging the law and order of
empires and sovereign nation-states. The pirate was labelled as a threat
not to one state or all states but to mankind and was consequ ently made
the first subject of international criminal law through universal
jurisdiction.
By examining different legal and normative definitions of the pirate, this
Article will analyse why pirates were treated as the first international
criminals and what contributions this criminalisation has made to
aspects of international criminal law. Through the work of theorists like
Giorgio Agamben, Ernesto Laclau, and Carl Schmitt, this Article will
examine the jurisdictional position of the figure of the pirate in order to
provide a theoretical framework for its criminalisation under
international law.
It will be argued that although piracy was criminalised under universal
jurisdiction because of its alleged heinousness, the role pirates played in
undermining capitalist expansion should be considered. Pirates, in other
words, were anti-territorial figures who posed challenges to imperialist
paradigms and nation-state boundaries. This Article will conclude that
pirates are political actors whose criminalisation cannot be reduced to
the charge of heinousness.
* Amira Nassim is currently studying for an MA in International Law at SOAS, University of
London. She completed her undergraduate degree at The Open University in International
Studies, focusing on Political Science.
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