The Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1872 (
35 & 36 Vict. c. 19) (PIP Act) or the Kidnapping Act 1872 was a law passed by the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
that was made to protect the
indigenous populations of the Pacific Islands from kidnapping and
blackbirding
Blackbirding was the trade in indentured labourers from the Pacific in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often described as a form of slavery, despite the British Slavery Abolition Act 1833 banning slavery throughout the British Empire, ...
(a practice involving the coercion and forced recruitment of Pacific Islanders for labour). Under this law, British ships were prohibited from kidnapping or coercing Pacific Islanders into recruitment.
History
The act was first drafted as early as 1861, more than a decade before 1872.
Later, on 27 June 1872, the Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1872 was finally passed
and received
royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
.
The act stated it did not override an act already passed by the
Legislature of Queensland.
The 1872 act, also known as the Kidnapping Act, included measures for preventing blackbirding, such as stricter licensing procedures and patrolling British-controlled islands. It was unlawful for British vessels to carry native labourers absent a licence granted by a governor of any of the Australasian colonies.
Section 3 of the 1872 act stated that British vessels cannot carry labourers from one island to another, even within the same group, unless the master has given a bond for £500. Later, the government proposes removing the £500 bond requirement by amending section 3 since the bond was expensive for small-scale British planters and settlers in the
New Hebrides
New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...
.
The law passed in 1872 was eventually expanded and amended with a new law in 1875.
The two acts were intended to be read as a single body of law.
On 2 August 1875, the Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1875 (
38 & 39 Vict. c. 51) also received royal assent.
This act gave the power to establish courts of justice and exercise jurisdiction over British subjects in the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Islanders Protection Acts of 1872 and 1875 were later repealed in Australia by schedule 2 of the Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Act 1999 (No. 104) that was adopted on 24 August 1999.
[{{Cite web , title=Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Act 1999 (Act No. 104) AUS-1999-L-67458 , url=https://natlex.ilo.org/dyn/natlex2/r/natlex/fe/details?p3_isn=67458&cs=1ZK4dUb71EYpOnEl-Oq525JCkESc3HOqdyvvHzAylHiA0mSxwe7QlhUUvURbfmnMTE3cb_F9Hm7Uhe1YM1oZZ2g , access-date=2024-12-17 , website=International Labour Organization]
References
History of the Pacific Ocean