Pirates and Maritime Law: Legal Constructs and Cultural Perceptions

Author: Mirosław Michał Sadowski
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781041131588

Published In: July 2026
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

Details

This book examines piracy not just as a historical and contemporary criminal activity but as a complex phenomenon deeply interwoven with legal constructs and cultural perceptions.

Specifically, it examines the intersection of piracy and law through a focus on three cultural images of pirates: as rulers of the seas, freedom fighters, and treasure seekers. The first part of the book, guided by the first image, takes up the historical definition of piracy, distinguishing between pirates, buccaneers, corsairs, and privateers. It then goes on to examine how the definition of piracy has evolved in international maritime law – taking up present-day issues of piracy, from the early-21st century UN resolutions to more recent Houthi attacks. The second part of the book discusses pirate codes as early forms of legal innovation, moving to the societal structures of pirate havens, and then to an analysis of pirate trials. The third and final part of the book investigates the legal aspects of treasure hunting, including the legal status of found treasures and conflicts over ownership and cultural heritage, both on land and under the seas. The book then concludes with a reflection on the nature of piracy's relationship with law, putting forward several observations and suggestions for its better understanding.

This book will be of interest to scholars of maritime law, legal theory, legal history, and international law.

Introduction

Part 1: The First Image - Pirates and the Seven Seas

1. What’s in a Name? Pirates, Buccaneers, Privateers, Corsairs, and the Concept of Piracy Throughout the Ages

2. Pirates and the Making of International Maritime Law: The (In)Visible Driving Force

3. Now Charted Waters: Piracy and Law at the Turn of the 21st Century

Part 2: The Second Image - Pirates and Liberty

4. Freedom at Sea: Pirate Codes, Social Organisation, and Legal and Economic Innovation

5. Freedom on Land: The Occident, the Orient, and Beyond

6. End of Liberty: Pirate Trials in the State of Exception

Part 3: The Third Image - Pirates and Lost Treasures

7. Treasures Lost on Land: What Gives?

8. Treasures Lost at Sea: Between Salvage and Heritage Laws