A letter of marque and reprisal[a][b] was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with the issuer, licensing international military operations against a specified enemy as reprisal for a previous attack or injury. Captured naval prizes were judged before the government’s admiralty court for condemnation and transfer of ownership to the privateer.
Hmm that’s a lot of state involvement for a purely private enterprise.
It was essentially tax on a private concern. It still holds in maritime law that piracy is only an offence that exists in a civilian context. Militaries by definition cannot commit piracy.
Privateer… hmm
Hmm that’s a lot of state involvement for a purely private enterprise.
It was essentially tax on a private concern. It still holds in maritime law that piracy is only an offence that exists in a civilian context. Militaries by definition cannot commit piracy.
It also legalised their piracy against declared enemy states.