Legal Definitions - transportation

Transportation has two distinct meanings in a legal context:

• 1. Movement of Goods or Persons

  In its most common legal sense, transportation refers to the organized movement of people or items from one location to another, typically facilitated by a professional service or entity known as a carrier.

  • Example A: A large electronics manufacturer hires a specialized logistics company to move thousands of newly assembled smartphones from its factory in Asia to its main distribution warehouse in Europe.

    This illustrates transportation because the logistics company acts as a carrier, responsible for the organized movement of goods (smartphones) across international borders.

  • Example B: A family purchases tickets for a cruise line to travel from Miami to various Caribbean islands for their vacation.

    Here, the cruise line provides transportation for persons (the family) by moving them across the sea to different destinations.

  • Example C: A city's public transit authority operates a network of subway trains and buses, allowing residents to commute to work, school, and other destinations within the metropolitan area.

    The public transit authority offers transportation services, moving numerous individuals (commuters) throughout the city on a regular basis.

• 2. Criminal Punishment (Historical)

  Historically, transportation also referred to a specific form of criminal punishment where a convicted individual was forcibly sent out of their home country to a distant territory, often a penal colony, for a set period or for life. This was typically used for serious offenses and served as a means of both punishment and colonial development.

  • Example A: In the 19th century, a person found guilty of forgery in Ireland might have been sentenced to transportation to Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania), where they would serve their sentence performing hard labor.

    This demonstrates transportation as a punishment, as the convicted individual was forcibly removed from their homeland and exiled to a distant penal colony as a legal consequence of their crime.

  • Example B: After the American Revolutionary War, Great Britain continued to sentence some of its convicts to transportation, redirecting them from the lost American colonies to newly established settlements in Australia.

    This illustrates the historical legal practice of transportation, where the state imposed exile to a remote territory as a severe form of punishment for criminal offenses.