Citations:hostis humani generis

English citations of hostis humani generis

1. (international law) A person who has committed a criminal act so grave – originally maritime piracy and slave-trading, and now torture as well – that any nation may put on trial and, upon conviction, punish him or her.
   • 1824, Nathan Dane, chapter CCX, in A General Abridgment and Digest of American Law, with Occasional Notes and Comments. [...] In Eight Volumes, volume VII, Boston, Mass.: Published by Cummings, Hilliard & Co., →OCLC, article 9 (What is Piracy or Not), § 13, page 94:

     All the definitions of piracy may be reduced to two short ones: 1. That of the Roman or civil law, which describes a pirate to be hostis humani generis; that is, the enemy of mankind: 2. That of the common law, which [describes] him as being a robber on the sea, […]