The Offences at Sea Act 1799 (39 Geo III c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The long title of the Act is "An Act for remedying certain Defects in the Law respecting Offences committed upon the High Seas." It is still in force. It extended the jurisdiction of British courts to crimes committed by British subjects on the high seas. It does not apply to foreign citizens. (However crimes committed by foreigners in British territorial waters, or on board British ships on the high seas, can be prosecuted in British courts.)
Jurisdiction over piracy on the high seas already existed before 1799, whether committed by British subjects or not.
Famous quotes containing the words offences, sea and/or act:
“A strong argument for the religion of Christ is this—that offences against Charity are about the only ones which men on their death-beds can be made—not to understand—but to feel—as crime.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1845)
“As the shade went up
And the ambulance came crashing through the dust
Of the new day, the moon and the sun and the stars,
And the iceberg slowly sank
In the volcano and the sea ran far away
Yellow over the hot sand, green as the green trees.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“What the Nation must realize is that the home, when both parents work, is non- existent. Once we have honestly faced that fact, we must act accordingly.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)