Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Not a parody: “Court tells France to pay damages to Somali pirates”

Great moments in international human rights law: “The European Court of Human Rights says France violated the rights of Somali pirates who had attacked French ships and has ordered compensation for them over judicial delays. The nine Somali pirates should get thousands of euros because they were not immediately brought before a French judge, the court ruled.” [BBC via Eugene Kontorovich]

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8 Comments

  • I would have supposed that after the ongoing debacle in a certain Bay in Cuba, most people would be happy that someone was calling out a bunch of people for unnecessary delays.

    Guess not.

    • By spodula

  • They should have just shot them and dumped the bodies in the ocean.
    Simpler all around and legal under international law.

  • Update, a court in Denmark has directed that pirates also receive compensation. They were found innocent and then awarded compensation.

    • By Roy B

  • If the defendants in Denmark were established to be innocent in fact, of course, it is far less surprising that compensation might be paid.

  • Victims of Somali piracy, and governments (starting with the French) that incurred reasonable expenses blocking Somali piracy, should be allowed to place liens against any payouts.

    If Britain should vote to leave the EU, the pro-terrorist European Court of Human Rights will be a major reason. Perhaps a pro-European British government could avert that by making a deal with France and other interested countries to clip the ECHR’s wings.

  • The Russian Navy just sinks the pirate ships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XJ0nblZjZE

    Somehow I don’t think Putin would be paying compensation to anybody over the action of the Russian Navy, even if it is ordered by a court.

    • By VMS

  • And thus a new revenue source for piracy began.

    • By DEM

  • I am confused. France violated the law with respect to the suspected pirates. Should France not be held accountable? Really. What recourse would you have the suspects have? Given that these guys should be innocent until proven guilty (under our system), should they not have rights?

    I know the US governmental entities routinely violates rights of the accused. To encourage the government not to do this, the courts have invented things like the exclusionary rule and imposed sanctions on the government (such as dismissal of charges). Very rarely do citizens alleged (or, even, convicted) get compensated for the violation of their rights under the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments.

    I simply am not outraged.

    • By Allan