The Piracy Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c 26), sometimes called the Pirates (Head Money) Repeal Act, is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It relates to proceedings for the condemnation of ships and other things taken from

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and creates an offence of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

in such proceedings. This Act is retained for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

by section 2 of, and Part 4 of Schedule 1 to, the

Statute Law Revision Act 2007 The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes. ...

. This Act was repealed so far as it was part of the law of the Commonwealth or a territory of Australia by section 53 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Crimes Legislation Amendment Act 1992. The case of ''The Magellan Pirates'' was decided under this Act. The cost of rewards paid under this Act have been given in the Navy Estimates.

Preamble

The preamble was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1891.

Section 1

Section 1
repealed 6 Geo 4 c 49 (1825) (An Act for encouraging the Capture or Destruction of Piratical Ships and Vessels). It was repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1875 The Statute Law Revision Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c 66) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill for this Act was the Statute Law Revision Bill. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The enactments ...

, because it was spent.Statute Law Revision Bill 1875 (38 & 39 Vict). Bill 278
p 95
(See page 3 for the definition of "spent"). Bills, Public. Volume 6. Session 5 February - 13 August 1875.

Sections 2 and 3

Sections 2 and 3 were repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1963 The Statute Law Revision Act 1963 (c 30) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was repealed by section 1 of, and Part XI of the Schedule to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974. The enactments which were repealed (wheth ...

. In section 2, the words "or any of the Ships or Vessels of War of the East India Company" and "after the said First Day of June" and from "including" to "Company" were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1875. In section 3, the words "said Lord Commissioners of the", occurring twice, were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1891. Sections 2 and 3 were repealed for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

by section 14(1) of, and the Schedule to, the Admiralty Act 1973 (No 119).

Section 4

Section 4 was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1875.

Section 5 - Condemnation of ships etc taken from pirates

The words omitted were repealed by the

and the Statute Law Revision Act 1891. "The admiralty courts before mentioned" Section 2 mentioned the High Court of Admiralty of England and all courts of vice admiralty in any dominions of Her Majesty beyond the seas. The jurisdiction of the High Court of Admiralty of England was transferred to the High Court by section 1(1) of the

Administration of Justice Act 1956 Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

. The jurisdiction of the Courts of Vice-Admiralty in Her Majesty's possessions abroad was transferred to Colonial Courts of Admiralty by section
2(3)
and 17 of the

Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890 Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

Section 6 - Perjury

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

this section provides: The words at the start were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1891. The words in the second place and at the end were repealed by section 56(4) of, and Part IV of Schedule 11 to, the

Courts Act 1971 The Courts Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and Wales. It established the Crown Court, introduced the posts of circuit judge and recorde ...

. This section was repealed for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

by the Perjury Act (Northern Ireland) 1946. This section was repealed for New Zealand by section 412(1) of, and the Fourth Schedule to, the

Crimes Act 1961 The Crimes Act 1961 is an act of New Zealand Parliament that forms a leading part of the criminal law in New Zealand. It repeals the Crimes Act 1908, itself a successor of the Criminal Code Act 1893. Most crimes in New Zealand are created by t ...

. "All the punishments, pains, and penalties to which persons convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury are liable" The penalty for perjury is now provided by section 1 of the

Perjury Act 1911 The Perjury Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo 5 c 6) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates the offence of perjury and a number of similar offences. This Act has effect as if section 89 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 and section 80 o ...

. "England" This expression includes

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Section 7

This section was repealed by the

Schedule

The Schedule was repealed by the

Commencement

The Act 13 & 14 Vict c 27 (1850) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill for the Act 13 & 14 Vict c 27 was called the Pirates (Head Money) Repeal Act Commencement Bill."Pirates (Head Money) Repeal Act Commencement Bill"
Index to Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, in the Third Session of the Fifteenth Parliament of the United Kingdom, 13 & 14 Victoria, 1850. The Act 13 & 14 Vict c 27 provided that the Piracy Act 1850 was to come into force on 1 June 1850 instead of 1 June 1851. 13 & 14 Vict c 27 was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1875, because it was spent.

References

* Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Fourth Edition. 2008 Reissue
Volume 12(1)
Page 114. *Halsbury's Statutes of England. Third Edition. 1969
Volume 8
Page 106. *Halsbury's Statutes of England. (The Complete Statutes of England). First Edition. 1929. Volume 4. Page 520. Google Books

*The Statutes: Third Revised Edition. HMSO. 1950
Volume 6
Page 3. *The Statutes: Second Revised Edition. HMSO. London. 1894. Volume 8. Page
xviii
an
632
*Cox and Paterson (eds). The Practical Statutes of the Session 1850. John Crockford, Law Times Office. London. 1850
Page 27
*The Law Reform Commission

ALRC 48. 1990. Paragraphs 8, 29, 32, 45, 90, 93 at pages 9, 23, 25, 36, 65, 66, 68.

eISB. *The Victorian Statutes: The Public and Private Acts of Victoria, Also the Acts of the Federal Council of Australasia, and a Selection of the Imperial Statutes Apparently in Force in Victoria. Robert S Brain, Government Printer. Melbourne. 1890. Volume 7 (Imperial Statutes and Acts of Federal Council)
Page 92
*The Public Acts of Queensland (Reprint) Classified and Annotated, 1828-1936. Volume 2. Page 1012. Google Books
"Piracy Act 1850 (13 and 14 Vict., c. 26.)"
Selection of Imperial Acts in force in New Zealand in 1881.

March 1972. Pages 60 and 65. *Mayers. Admiralty Law and Practice in Canada. Carswell Company. 1916. Page 186
Internet ArchiveGoogle Books
*A Collection of Statutes Relating to India. 1913
Volume 1
Page 251. *Dicey and Goddard. The Admiralty Statutes: Being the Public Statutes Actually in Force Relating to the Admiralty and Her Majesty's Navy from 5 & 6 Edw. VI. (A.D. 1552) to 48 & 49 Vict. (A.D. 1885) Inclusive, Arranged in Chronological Order, and Followed by an Index. Second Edition. Printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode for HMSO. London. 1886
Page 126
See also page x.

External links

The Piracy Act 1850
as amended from the The National Archives (United Kingdom), National Archives.
The Piracy Act 1850
as originally enacted from the The National Archives (United Kingdom), National Archives. {{Pirates United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1850 Piracy law Piracy in the United Kingdom