In the seventeenth century, the Dutch scholar Hugo Grotius, who is recognized for codifying international law, argued that pirates could be tried for their crimes, regardless of where they were committed, aboard the ships that captured them. Following the 1814-1815 Congress of Vienna, with its condemnation of slavery, some states applied the concept to slave traders, who also committed many of their crimes outside national jurisdictions.
在十七世纪，荷兰学者雨果·格劳修斯（Hugo Grotius，他被认为是国际法的起草者）指出海盗可以在抓获他们的船上被起诉，不管他们的犯罪地点在哪里。1814—1815年的维也纳会议规定蓄奴为犯罪行为，此后，一些国家将这一概念应用于奴隶贩子，奴隶贩子的许多罪行也是在国家法律辖区之外犯下的。