Varying jail terms for pirates raise questions about fairness
The first global empirical study of penalties for piracy has found that sentences imposed by prosecuting nations range from four years to life terms, raising questions about the fairness of such decisions. The discussion paper, The Penalties for Piracy, was written by Eugene Kontorovich for Oceans Beyond Piracy. It states that international law defines the crime of piracy, but not the penalty.
Mr Kontorovich argued that the wide variance in punishment has less to do with piracy and more to do with variations between prosecuting countries’ local systems. Sentences in Kenya and the European Union tend to be a third to half the global average, while those in the US and the Seychelles are far higher. Most of the 10 prosecuting nations have delivered only one or two sentences.
See attached file : Piracy Report 20120723-0801.pdf
MAST海盗活动报告(2012年7月23日-8月1日)
海盗刑期差异引起公平问题
第一份关于海盗刑罚的全球性实证研究发现检控国的判决从四年到终身监禁不等，这引起了判决公平性的问题。讨论文件《对海盗的刑罚》由Eugene Kontorovich为美国反海盗研究组织Oceans Beyond Piracy编写。该文声称国际法定义了海盗罪，但没有定义对海盗的惩罚。
Kontorovich先生认为巨大的惩罚差异与海盗行为的关系不大，但与检控国当地制度的差异有关。肯尼亚和欧盟的刑期趋于全球平均数的一半或三分之一，而美国和塞舌尔的刑期则特别长。10个检控国中，大多数国家都只下达了一个或两个判决。
详细信息请参阅附件。
