Piracy (UNCLOS Art 101)

Article 101 of UNCLOS gives the only universal legal definition of piracy: an illegal act of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or passengers of a private ship against another ship, on the high seas or in a place outside any state’s jurisdiction. The private-ends and two-ship elements exclude armed robbery within territorial waters, which the IMB classes separately as sea robbery. Articles 105 and 110 supply the enforcement powers: any state may seize a pirate ship and exercise the right of visit.