13 Aug No Seducing Pirate Messages in Victoria!
I know how much our readers like pirates, so I thought I would share the State of Victoria’s remarkably loony criminal statutes on the subject. Here is s70B of the Crimes Act 1958:
A person commits a piratical act if… being on board any Australian ship he —
(i) turns pirate, enemy or rebel, and piratically runs away with the ship;
(ii) voluntarily yields up the ship or any boat, munitions or goods to any pirate;
(iii) brings any seducing message from any pirate, enemy, or rebel…
Any person who commits a piratical act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction upon indictment to… level 3 imprisonment (20 years maximum).
My favorite is (ii), which requires everyone who is on an Australian ship attacked by pirates to resist being hijacked or face 20 years imprisonment. No wimps allowed!
And then there is s70C:
Any person who knowingly —
(a) trades with any pirate…
(c) fits out any vessel with a design to trade with, supply or correspond with any pirate; or
(d) conspires or corresponds with any pirate —
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction upon indictment to level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).
Didn’t resist being hijacked? Tough luck — it’s a felony for anyone to pay your ransom. It’s even a felony for anyone to discuss your release. Better get comfortable. You may be there awhile…
I always assumed piracy was a federal offence.
Me, too. Very strange.
It seems to me with regard to point (ii) that passengers or other people on board a ship with no direct responsibility for her safety or well-being can’t “voluntarily yield up the ship”. Her captain and crew, sure, but passengers on a cruise ship? Or civilians on board a naval vessel? You can’t voluntarily yield something you don’t have control over.
On the other hand, if pirates starting robbing individual passengers, then it’s possible those passengers could be held responsible if they voluntarily yielded up their personal belongings, but even in that case I think an argument could be made that “goods” in this context was intended to apply to cargo on board a ship, not the personal property of the passengers.
Now, how did that 80s song go …
If Americans have to listen to that godawful “God Bless the USA” song every baseball game/social function, I think the Australians can deal with “Down Under.”
Ken,
I think it’s the dirty secret of Australians everywhere that this lovely country produced Men at Work. Reminds me of the scene in South Park: The Movie where, in the heat of the diplomatic battle between Canada and the US, Canada’s Minister of Culture angrily insists, “the Canadian government has apologized for Bryan Adams on several occasions!”