Of Piracy and General Average: Contribution in General Average for Ransom Payment occasioned by Piratical Activity

This article examines the interplay between two ancient legal areas encountered in admiralty law, i.e. general average and piracy; the first is a unique indemnification system, to an extent similar to insurance, described as providing in ancient law ‘security against a certain aspect of the maritime risk, namely that which consists in deliberate sacrifice for the common safety’, whilst the second displays the idiosyncratic approach of admiralty law in providing a marine insurance definition of piracy which is to a substantial extent y at odds with that in public international law. The recent United Kingdom Supreme Court judgment in The Longchamp as well as other judgments on general average are examined within the broad context of the perennial debate as to whether or not that institution should be retained.