Ottawa was so embarrassed by the "catch-and-release conundrum" involving Somali pirates last year that it ordered the navy not to take any prisoners unless they had an iron-clad case that would stand up in court, federal documents say.

The policy change happened in the spring of last year and meant sailors would stand aside unless they actually saw the "commission of an act of piracy, or armed robbery generally defined as illegal use of violence" on the high seas.

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