Maritime Piracy Act (Belgium). The text

30 DECEMBER 2009. - Law relating to the fight against maritime piracy (1)

ALBERT II, ​​King of the Belgians,
To all, present and future, Hello.
The Chambers have adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER 1^er. - General layout
Article 1^er. This law regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER 2. - Provisions aimed at combating maritime piracy
Art. 2. For the purposes of this Act, the following terms mean:
1° piracy: acts of maritime piracy constituting one of the offenses defined in Article 3;
2° pirate ship: the ship which the persons who effectively control it use or intend to use to commit one of the acts referred to in Article 3. The same applies to the ship which has been used to commit such acts that it remains under the control of those who are guilty of it;
3° group of pirates: the association of more than two persons, established over time, which acts in concert with a view to committing a piracy offense referred to in Article 3;
4° Belgian vessel: vessel flying the Belgian flag.
Art. 3. § 1^er. Constitutes a piracy offense any of the following acts:
(a) any unlawful act of violence, threat, detention or depredation committed by the crew or passengers of a private vessel acting for private purposes and directed:
(i) against another ship, or against persons or property on board, on the high seas;
(ii) against another ship, or persons or property on board, in a place beyond the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the use of a vessel, when its author has knowledge of facts from which it follows that this vessel is a pirate vessel;
c) any attempt, any preparatory act, or any act intended to incite the commission of the acts defined in a) or b), or committed with the intention of facilitating them.
§ 2. Acts of piracy, as defined in paragraph 1^er, perpetrated by a warship or a State ship whose mutinous crew has taken control are assimilated to acts committed by a private ship.
§ 3. The acts referred to in paragraphs 1^er and 2, committed in a maritime space other than the high seas, are assimilated to acts of piracy as defined in paragraphs
1^er and 2, to the extent provided by international law.
Art. 4. § 1^er. Any person who has committed a piracy offense referred to in Article 3, § 1^er, a) or b) shall be punished by imprisonment for ten to fifteen years.
Any person who has committed a piracy offense referred to in Article 3, § 1^er, c) shall be punished by imprisonment of five to ten years.
§ 2. Any person who participates in an activity of a hacker group, including by providing information or material means to the hacker group, or by any form of financing of an activity of the hacker group, in having knowledge that this participation contributes to committing an offense of piracy, will be punished by imprisonment of five to ten years.
Any leader of the group of pirates will be punished by imprisonment of fifteen to twenty years.
§ 3. The offenses referred to in paragraph 417 shall be punished by imprisonment of fifteen to twenty years if the violence, threat, detention or depredation have caused either an apparently incurable illness, or permanent physical or mental incapacity, or complete loss of use of an organ, i.e. severe mutilation. The same penalty will be applied if the pirate has subjected the persons on board to acts referred to in article XNUMXter, first paragraph, of the Penal Code. The offenses referred to in the first paragraph, will be punished by imprisonment from twenty to thirty years if violence, threat, detention or depredation, exercised without intention to cause death, have nevertheless caused it.
The offenses referred to in the first paragraph, will be punished by life imprisonment if a murder or an assassination has been committed.
The offenses referred to in the first paragraph will be punished by imprisonment of fifteen to twenty years if a serious attack has been made on the safety of navigation or the protection of the environment.
§ 4. With the exception of the penalties provided for in paragraph 1^er, paragraph 2, and paragraph 2, the penalties will be applied, even when the commission of the crime has been prevented by circumstances beyond the control of the perpetrators.
Art. 5. § 1^er. Without prejudice to the powers of judicial police officers, the captains of Belgian warships or other Belgian ships which bear external markings clearly indicating that they are assigned to a public service and which are authorized for this purpose, are entitled to take any measure of prevention, control and coercion with a view to preventing or putting an end to the acts of piracy referred to in Articles 3 and 4.
§ 2. They can:
- accompany ships individually or in convoy;
- search for piracy offenses and note them by official reports until proof to the contrary;
- visit at all times ships which are the object of acts of piracy as well as those which are suspected of taking part in or preparing to take part in such acts. To this end, they may require the presentation of all on-board documents and all supporting documents and check them. If the suspicions remain, they may enter any premises and places on board;
- embark a Belgian military protection team on a civilian ship;
- seize a pirate ship, or a ship captured as a result of an act of piracy and in the hands of pirates, as well as the property on board;
- seize all the documents and everything that could be used to reveal the truth on board a pirate ship.
§ 3. When access on board has been refused or has been materially impossible, the master of the ship referred to in paragraph 1^er may order the diversion of the vessel suspected, with sufficient grounds, of a piracy offense to the appropriate position or port. This diversion is carried out at the expense and risk of the persons in control of the diverted ship.
During the transit following the decision to divert, the master may take the necessary and appropriate coercive measures to ensure the preservation of the ship and its cargo and the safety of the persons on board.
§ 4. In the cases referred to in this article, if the persons who have effective control of the vessel suspected of committing or being the object of a piracy offense expressly or in fact refuse to admit the visit or diversion, the master of the vessel referred to in paragraph 1^er may, after warning, resort to coercive measures against that vessel, including, if necessary, the use of force.
Art. 6. All provisions of Book I^er of the Penal Code, without exception of Chapter VII and of Article 85, are applicable to the offenses provided for by this law.
CHAPTER 3. - Amendment of the Penal Code
Art. 7. In article 137, § 2, of the Penal Code, inserted by the law of December 19, 2003, the 6° is supplemented by the words "as well as the acts of piracy referred to in article 3 of the law of 30 December 2009 relating to the fight against maritime piracy”.
CHAPTER 4. - Entry into force
Art. 8. This law comes into force on the day of its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.
Let us promulgate the present law, order that it be coated with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Châteauneuf-de-Grasse, December 30, 2009.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
The Minister of Defence,
P. DE CREM
Sealed with the seal of the State:
The Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
Footnotes
(1) Session 2009-2010:
Previous documents. - Bill, 52-2214, No. 001. - Report, 52-2214 - No. 002.

30 DECEMBER 2009. - Law relating to the fight against maritime piracy and amending the Judicial Code (1)

ALBERT II, ​​King of the Belgians,
To all, present and future, Hello.
The Chambers have adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER 1^ER. - General layout
Article 1^er. This law regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER 2. - Provisions concerning the fight against maritime piracy
Art. 2. § 1^er. The person caught in the act of piracy within the meaning of articles 3 and 4 of the law of 30 December 2009 on the fight against maritime piracy or in respect of whom there are serious indications of guilt relating to such an offense may be deprived of liberty either on the initiative of the captain of a vessel referred to in Article 5, §
1^er, of the aforementioned law, or on the initiative of the commander of a Belgian military protection team embarked on a civilian vessel. The commander draws up a report with
detailed indication of the circumstances in which the deprivation of liberty took place, including the exact time of the deprivation.
§ 2. The commander immediately informs the federal prosecutor of the deprivation of liberty by the fastest means of communication. The commander carries out the orders given by this magistrate both with regard to the deprivation of liberty and the duties to be carried out.
§ 3. The deprivation of liberty may in no case exceed twenty-four hours. The deprivation of liberty must be confirmed within twenty-four hours by the federal prosecutor. Otherwise,
the person concerned is released. The decision of the federal prosecutor is immediately communicated to the person concerned by the commander.
§ 4. The commander draws up a report of the deprivation of liberty. This report mentions the precise time of the deprivation of liberty, the decision of the federal prosecutor with regard to this deprivation of liberty as well as the precise time of the communication to the person concerned of the decision of the federal prosecutor.
§ 5. If the federal prosecutor considers that a person deprived of liberty for acts of piracy should be placed under arrest warrant, he requests the investigating judge who can issue a
provisional arrest warrant. The provisional arrest warrant must be issued within twenty-four hours of the initial deprivation of liberty and is valid until the following twenty-four hours.
the arrival of the detainee on the territory of the Kingdom and a maximum of one month.
The hearing of the person deprived of liberty can be done by radio, telephone, audio-visual means or other technical means which allow direct transmission of the voice between the investigating judge and the suspect while guaranteeing confidentiality. of their exchanges.
If the hearing of the person deprived of liberty is impossible due to exceptional circumstances, the investigating judge must then hear the persons who are able to present the charges against this person.
All the elements referred to in this paragraph, including any exceptional circumstances which made it impossible to hear the person concerned, are recorded in the minutes.
of hearing. The person concerned is immediately informed of the decision of the investigating judge by the commander and a copy of the provisional arrest warrant is issued to him as soon as possible. The commander records in a report the precise time at which the person concerned was informed of the decision of the investigating judge as well as the precise time at which the copy of the provisional arrest warrant was delivered to him.
§ 6. In the event that proceedings are brought in Belgium, the accused will be transferred to Belgium as quickly as the circumstances allow.
Within twenty-four hours of his arrival on the territory of the Kingdom, he will be physically presented to the examining magistrate and interrogated. The investigating judge verifies whether the time limits for
twenty-four hours following the arrival of the detainee on the territory of the Kingdom and a maximum month referred to in paragraph 5, paragraph 1^er, have been complied with. In the absence of a hearing in
twenty-four hours or in the event of non-compliance with the deadlines referred to in paragraph 5, paragraph 1^er, the accused is released.
If the investigating judge considers that the detention should be maintained, he issues an arrest warrant in accordance with article 16 of the law of 20 July 1990 relating to preventive detention.
Art. 3. § 1^er. The piracy offenses referred to in articles 3 and 4 of the law of 30 December 2009 on maritime piracy, committed on board a Belgian vessel are deemed
committed on the territory of the Kingdom.
§ 2. The federal prosecutor is competent to prosecute in Belgium any person who, outside the territory of the Kingdom, is guilty of the offense of piracy referred to in articles 3 and 4 of the law of 30 December 2009 on the fight against maritime piracy when the facts occurred against a Belgian ship or when the suspects were apprehended by Belgian soldiers.
§ 3. The proceedings referred to in paragraph 2 may take place even if the person is not found on the territory of the Kingdom.
§ 4. The federal prosecutor judges the appropriateness of the prosecution taking into account the concrete circumstances of the case.
Insofar as this jurisdiction has the qualities of independence, impartiality and fairness, as can be seen in particular from the relevant international commitments binding the
Belgium and the State of this jurisdiction, it may decide that, in the interest of the proper administration of justice and in compliance with Belgium's international obligations, this
case should be brought:
- either before the jurisdiction of the flag State of the vessel against which the acts were committed;
- either before the jurisdiction of the State of which the author is a national or of the place where he can be found;
- or before the jurisdiction of a third State, once the conditions of this transfer have been agreed with this State in a manner that complies with applicable international law.
§ 5. The constitutions of civil party are admissible only after the decision of the federal prosecutor to exercise the public action.
§ 6. The courts of Brussels have exclusive jurisdiction to hear the offenses referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of the law of 30 December 2009 on the fight against piracy
maritime.
CHAPTER 3. - Amendment of the Judicial Code
Art. 4. In article 144quater of the Judicial Code, inserted by the law of August 5, 2003, the words "and in articles 3 and 4 of the law of December 30, 2009 relating to the fight against piracy
maritime” are inserted between the words “Penal Code” and the word “alone”.
CHAPTER 4. - Entry into force
Art. 5. This law comes into force on the day of its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette. Let us promulgate the present law, order that it be coated with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor. Given in Châteauneuf-de-Grasse, December 30, 2009.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
The Minister of Defence,
P. DE CREM
Sealed with the seal of the State:
The Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
Footnotes
Ordinary session:
House of Representatives.
DOC 52 2215/1: Bill.
DOC 52 2215/2: Amendments.
DOC 52 2215/4: Text corrected by the Commission.
4-1562/1: Draft sent by the Chamber.
4-1562/3: Report made on behalf of the committee.