PIRACY AND SEYCHELLES PENAL CODE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT LOUIS 000043 SIPDIS S/P FOR PHARRELL; L FOR JLANSIDLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2020 TAGS: PREL PGOV KPIR MARR PHSA EWWT PBTS SO SE SUBJECT: PIRACY AND SEYCHELLES PENAL CODE REF: PORT LOUIS 0006 Classified By: CDA BARRIE WALKLEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (C) Motivated in part by the capture and up-coming trial of eleven Somali pirates, the government of Seychelles is currently pursuing an amendment to the Penal Code that will specifically criminalize piracy and the conspiracy to commit piracy. It will also allow the prosecution in Seychelles courts of acts of piracy that occur outside Seychelles territory. A copy of the proposed amendment has been provided to us but the source requests that the text be treated as confidential until the amendment is official. It must receive cabinet approval, be passed by the National Assembly and then signed by the president. The government hopes this can be achieved by the end of February. The text of the draft amendment is included below. ¶2. (C) BEGIN TEXT OF AMENDMENT: ¶2. The Penal Code is hereby amended as follows: a. by repealing section 65 and substituting therefor the following section: 65(1) Any person who commits any act of piracy within Seychelles or elsewhere is guilty of an offense and liable to imprisonment for 30 years and a fine of R1 million. 65(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 6 and any other written law, the courts of Seychelles shall have jurisdiction to try an offense of piracy whether the offense is committed within the territory of Seychelles or outside the territory of Seychelles. 65(3) Any person who attempts or conspires to commit, or incites, aids and abets, counsels or procures the commission of, an offense contrary to section 65(1) commits an offense and shall be liable to imprisonment for 30 years and a fine of R1,000,000. 65(4) For the purposes of this section "piracy" includes: (a) any illegal act of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such a ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, an aircraft, a person or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State or, (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or a pirate aircraft. 65(5) A ship or aircraft shall be considered a pirate ship or a pirate aircraft if: (a) it has been used to commit any of the acts referred to in subsection (4) and remains under the control of the persons who committed those acts; or (b) it is intended by the person in dominant control of it to be used for the purpose of committing any of the acts referred to in subsection (4). 65(6) A ship or aircraft may retain its nationality although it has become a pirate ship or pirate aircraft. The retention or loss of nationality shall be determined by the law of the State from which such nationality was derived. 65(7) Members of the Police and Defense Forces of Seychelles shall on the high seas, or may in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State, seize a pirate ship or pirate aircraft, or ship or aircraft taken by piracy and in the control of pirates, and arrest the persons and seize the property on board. The Seychelles Court shall hear and determine the case against such persons and order the action to be taken as regards the ships, aircraft or property seized, accordingly to the law. ¶3. The Criminal Procedure Code is amended in section 60 by repealing the words "committed within Seychelles" and substituting therefor the words "over which the Courts of PORT LOUIS 00000043 002 OF 002 Seychelles have jurisdiction." END TEXT ¶3. (C) COMMENT: This amendment is significant as it criminalizes piracy and allows the prosecution in Seychelles courts of acts of piracy committed inside, and outside, Seychelles territory. It helps pave the way for the possible establishment in Seychelles of a regional court for piracy prosecution. WALKLEY