The Custom of the Sea
Encyclopedia
The Custom of the Sea is a set of custom
s that are said to be practised by the officers and crew of ships and boats in the open sea, as distinguished from maritime law, a distinct and coherent body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses.
Possibly the best-known of the customs is the practice of shipwreck
ed survivors drawing lots to see who would be killed and eaten
so that the others might survive.
to allow some to survive.
case which developed a crucial ruling on necessity
in modern common law. The case dealt with four crewmembers of an English yacht, the Mignonette, who were cast away in a storm some 1,600 miles from the Cape of Good Hope
. After a few weeks, one of the crew fell unconscious due to a combination of the famine
and drinking seawater. The others (one objecting) decided then to kill him and eat him. They were picked up four days later. The case held that necessity was not a defense to a charge of murder, and the two defendants were convicted, though their death sentence was commuted to six months' imprisonment.
Custom (law)
Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Customary law exists where:...
s that are said to be practised by the officers and crew of ships and boats in the open sea, as distinguished from maritime law, a distinct and coherent body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses.
Possibly the best-known of the customs is the practice of shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
ed survivors drawing lots to see who would be killed and eaten
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
so that the others might survive.
The Essex
After the sinking of the Essex of Nantucket by a whale on November 20, 1820, the survivors were left floating in three small whaleboats. They eventually resorted, by common consent, to cannibalismCannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
to allow some to survive.
The Mignonette
The case of R. v. Dudley and Stephens (1884 14 QBD 273 DC) is an EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
case which developed a crucial ruling on necessity
Necessity
In U.S. criminal law, necessity may be either a possible justification or an exculpation for breaking the law. Defendants seeking to rely on this defense argue that they should not be held liable for their actions as a crime because their conduct was necessary to prevent some greater harm and when...
in modern common law. The case dealt with four crewmembers of an English yacht, the Mignonette, who were cast away in a storm some 1,600 miles from the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
. After a few weeks, one of the crew fell unconscious due to a combination of the famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
and drinking seawater. The others (one objecting) decided then to kill him and eat him. They were picked up four days later. The case held that necessity was not a defense to a charge of murder, and the two defendants were convicted, though their death sentence was commuted to six months' imprisonment.