Federal · Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters

33 U.S.C. § 382: Seizure of piratical vessels generally

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

This statute authorizes the President to direct U.S. armed vessel commanders to seize pirate ships and recover captured American vessels on the high seas.

Read the full statutory text

The President is authorized to instruct the commanders of the public armed vessels of the United States to subdue, seize, take, and send into any port of the United States, any armed vessel or boat, or any vessel or boat, the crew whereof shall be armed, and which shall have attempted or committed any piratical aggression, search, restraint, depredation, or seizure, upon any vessel of the United States, or of the citizens thereof, or upon any other vessel; and also to retake any vessel of the United States, or its citizens, which may have been unlawfully captured upon the high seas.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.