Term
Pirate
Etymology
From Latin pirata, from Greek peirat\xC4\x93s (one who attempts, attacks), from peira (attempt, trial).
Definition
In international law, a person who commits an act of armed robbery, depredation, or violence on the high seas (or in a place beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any state) for private ends, without authorisation from any state. The crucial legal element is the absence of state commission; an armed mariner acting under any state’s letter of marque is, by definition, not a pirate under that state’s law (though the state against which the commission runs will not recognise the distinction).
The codex applies the term in this strict legal sense but recognises that nearly every figure it documents operated, at one point or another, on both sides of the line.
