Piracy is the act of robbery against the private ends committed in the air and the seas.
It does not have the authorization by the public authority because it is out of the ordinary
jurisdiction of the country. Therefore, following international law, piracy is only private and
cannot be politicized. Following the definition, piracy has been identified as a helpful
phenomenon that could and has explained the evolution of international law. According to
Kempe (2010), the period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries shows a perfect
interaction between piracy, transnational relation, and international law. The trans-maritime
development in trade in the high seas of Europe brought about conflicts at the locus of
worldwide encounter. This resulted from the fact that word’s oceans were opened up for
business and transactions between countries and continents.
Besides, the author was keen to state that sea robbery started as soon as the sea trade
began, and its development as a global issue led to the transfer of initial Europe conflicts to
the world. Also, the world welcomed the universal need for International like it was
developed in Europe. Dealing with international piracy led to the formation of the central
futures as well as structures featuring the interstate relations together with international law.
There is evidence of a bipolarity used in modern international law to curb piracy revolved
between autonomy and instrumentalization. In the view of Alfred P. Rubin, the adjustment in
the statutes governing piracy in the European nations have consistently been changed to meet
the requirements of the day. In such use of the law, the legitimization of imperial politics has
been experienced.
In the course of Europe’s new expansion in the sixteenth century, the sea space
became a point of lawlessness because it was a tremendous free zone. Although privateering

INTERNATIONAL LAW 3
appeared to be more central compared to piracy, the political practice was in the two used in
informing and defining the maritime relations. This resulted in the struggles experienced over
the resources of the sea, giving the pirates a chance as they acted on behalf of the political
conflicts. However, the battle increased in the intensity because countries like Spain went to
the extent of demarcating their waters in the seas, demanding that passage would be granted
to those who had the express permission. In rebellion, France and other nations pushed for
unlimited freedom to access the water because the boundaries were not international valid. In
reality, the only thing these countries were fighting for was their legitimacy of privateering.
Therefore, it becomes essential to understand and differentiate between the law and the
rhetoric placed on piracy. Unfortunately, to this point, piracy had turned into a matter of
international politics other than being a global law question. This makes the water spaces a
subject of international legal controversies.
Therefore, globalized piracy has resulted in different international laws that are used
based on the unusual location of the oceans. The activities has since brought about the
modern international law and their under formations that could hence be solved. Besides, a
tool to expand the territory as well as involve the non-state participants in the relations of the
international legality were identified as key causes of problem. Therefore, an international
management of the ocean spaces globally could harness international law because it is able to
resist abuses from the political class and individuals who could have personal interests.
That Moral League of Nations against the United States’: The Origins of the

1856 Declaration of Paris.

The Declaration signed by the seven European nations in 1856, marked the beginning
of the modern international laws in the waters. The treaty was made with a primary intention
to create universal rules in the international laws that would separate the Americans. Besides,

INTERNATIONAL LAW 4
the agreement would also be used to force them to accept privateering abolition. Therefore,
the author focuses on why Britain allowed and entered into an agreement with the
Declaration by Paris. However, there is no concrete explanation as to why the Britain
government entered into a treaty agreement while it lobbied to gain the global acceptance it
currently possesses (Lemnitzer, 2013). In its Declaration, Britain was able to extend the
neutral trade freedom in an unprecedented region even during the wartime. Besides, the
multilateral treaties led to the opening of these waters for use by all states to create new rules
that could be used universally. The extension of these rights for trade in an undisturbed area
was vital because they were able to do away with the old belligerent rights tradition used in
British. Hence, for many years, the state has been able to look for properties belonging to the
enemy. The Declaration was allowed for such broad and neutral rights in Britain to gain an
abolition of privateering. This is because privateering was in no wat an anachronism, but it
was a clear plan in the United States strategy to be used in case conflict raised between them
and Britain.
Due to Declaration, a large number of privateers in Paris had their ports closed to
facilitate practice being put to an end. Thus, the treaty acted like the first multilateral
lawmaking agreement at the time one, which is still used as an intervention instrument in the
making of international law. On the other hand, French, in reaction to the Declaration liked
the glorious end of the Congress that was against the British pretense (Lemnitzer, 2013).
Thus, future problems would only be resolved through multilateral talks between the nations.
Other signatories in the Declaration, would also secure their interests in the industrial
countries so that they do away with the current regimes that were in place. This is because the
administration would best be replaced with a maritime balance of power. However, due to the
need for economic growth and development in these countries, they moved to invent a

INTERNATIONAL LAW 5
multilateral treaty for lawmaking. The invention has then been used as a tool of international
legislation.
The Moral League of Nations against the United States led to the declaration
formation that facilitated the start of the modern international law. The creation of the new
universal rules was intended by the multilateral territories with their powers and abilities.
However, the agreement made from these treaties brought about to an end to practice of
privateers. Besides, for the first time was the main instrument for law-making across the
globe. The tool is since used in the creation and implementation of the international law in
the current would of water spaces.

Legal spaces of empire: Piracy and the origins of ocean regionalism.
The research aims to show the positive relationship between pirates and the effects it
has on the legal politics of the Atlantic. The author looks at the relationship between the
strategies used in legalism in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. He makes use
of different sources including narratives, predominately court records as well as first-hand
information from piratical activities. These activities include the deposition of Benjamin
Franks and the description by William Kidd (Benton, 2005). In his narrative, he sailed from
London with permission to get hold of pirates, but shortly after a few captures, he was
arrested. This led to the scrutinization of having separate oceans, depending on the regions
they fall. The strategy saw him come out of the legalism using a strong piracy argument.
Besides, the European maritime realized the Mughal dominance leading to the careful merge
between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. The pressure intensified in an attempt to construct
a legal system that was imperialist. The system was done and expected to contain piracy
directly, but this was not completely dealt with, hence, requiring a transformation of the
European law.

INTERNATIONAL LAW 6
He also showed the division that exists between the Indian and Atlantic oceans as
different legal spaces. These divisions began way back but were at this time blurred because
clear boundary lines were identified separating the oceans. The focus of the European laws
was to address the debate that happened with Grotian intending to get their freedom to
navigate and define the territory’s sovereignty. According to Benton (2005), legal practices
globally have highly been accepted, while different laws have been employed to guide the
mariners. However, mariners used rules to their advantage, and this brought about legal
spaces being created around the globe. An attack was made to distinguish the legitimacy of
captains so that pirates were able to ships into vectors in lawlessness. Although at that
particular time, piracy was still not a problem to worry about, this later became something to
connect with legitimate sponsorship. They are also highlighting the challenges that came
along with the implemented laws towards the high seas. Besides, this was also manipulated
by the pirates so that the authority condones their activities.
In the seventeenth century, piracy was identified as a group of ship felonies, mutiny,
and unlicensed raiding. This made it difficult to differentiate between piracies and to
privateer due to inter-imperial peace and war in the states. Therefore, it was challenging to
identify the legality of these actions, even when different factors such as locations, timing,
and targets raids were used. Unfortunately, the author highlights that setting in powerful
forces could result in the current modern world could not facilitate the production of
undifferentiated spaces. The globalized legal practices could harness different regional
trajectories that would hence, lead to spatial distribution.
In conclusion, following the three articles presented above it is true to say that piracy
has helped in the evolution of international law. Piracy was highly globalized in the legal
system around the world making it easy to make laws out of what was previously formed.
Besides, entering into treaty agreements between states helped in the fight for multi-lateral

INTERNATIONAL LAW 7
law making that could be effectively used for international law. Thus, with the legalization of
space in different regions in the globe was easy to curb piracy depending on their locations.

References

INTERNATIONAL LAW 8
Benton, L. (2005). Legal spaces of empire: Piracy and the origins of ocean
regionalism. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 47(4), 700-724.
Kempe, M. (2010). ‘Even in the remotest corners of the world’: globalized piracy and
international law, 1500–1900. Journal of Global History, 5(3), 353-372.
Lemnitzer, J. M. (2013). ‘That Moral League of Nations against the United States’: The
Origins of the 1856 Declaration of Paris. The International History Review, 35(5),
1068-1088.