The accused were charged with piracy contrary to ss 65 and 377 of the Penal Code, read with s 23 of the Penal Code, in that on 5 March 2010 on the high seas with common intention, they attempted to seize a ship, the Intertuna II, by violence or putting those in possession of the ship in fear.

Section 65 of the Penal Code of Seychelles provides: 'Any person who is guilty of piracy or any crime connected with or akin to piracy shall be liable to be tried and punished according to the law of England for the time being in force.' The phrase 'time being in force', according to established principles and case law, refers to the common law prevailing in England as at 29 June 1976 when Seychelles attained independence from Britain. At that stage the municipal law in England in force in regard to piracy was the Piracy Act 1837, which was eventually superseded by the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 (UK), which incorporated into English law the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

The accused submitted that the arrest of the vessel containing them was illegal.

Held: The prosecution evidence proves all the necessary ingredients of the charge beyond reasonable doubt. The accused are guilty as charged and convicted accordingly.

It is clear that the French naval vessel, the FNS Nivose, responded to a call for help from the captain of the Intertuna II and intercepted the vessel containing the accused, who had been involved in the attempted act of piracy on the Intertuna II. Thereafter the crew of the FNS Nivose took the 11 accused aboard the Nivose and held them and made arrangements for them to be transported to Seychelles to be tried via Djibouti. It cannot be said, by any stretch of imagination, that by responding to a call for help from the Intertuna II in respect of an act of piracy or attempted piracy, and by intercepting the vessel with the pirates aboard and by holding them on the Nivose, that such acts violate the norms of international law. Both arts 19 and 21 of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas, and art 107 of UNCLOS provide for such intervention.

In the case of the offence of piracy, which attracts universal jurisdiction, if the pirates were held on the FNS Nivose in order to hand them over to judicial authorities for arrest and detention, and the pirates were in fact eventually taken to the appropriate country to be handed over, as was done in this case, holding them for the necessary period of time for the naval vessel to get the pirates to the relevant country, where the formalities of arrest and judicial proceedings are to commence, cannot be considered to be illegal or a violation of any norms of international law.