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Alankrit - International Law
Alankrit - International Law
Alankrit - International Law
(Project Report)
Submitted to
Submitted by
Alankrit Bajpai
(Sem – IV; Sec- ‘C’; Roll no. - 008)
Declaration
I, Alankrit Bajpai, of Semester IV, Section C, declare that this project submitted to H.N.L.U.,
Raipur is an original work done by me under the able guidance of Mr. Mohammad Atif Khan,
Faculty of Public International Law. The work is a bona fide creation done by me. Due references
in terms of footnotes have been duly given wherever necessary.
Alankrit Bajpai
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Acknowledgements
At the very beginning, I would like to thank all those who were the ‘guiding lights’ behind this
project. First of all I would like to take this opportunity with esteem privilege to express my
heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my course teacher Mohammad Atif Khan, (Faculty for Public
International Law, H.N.L.U.) for having faith in me in awarding me this very significant project
topic. His consistent supervision, constant inspiration and invaluable guidance have been of
immense help in carrying out the project work with success.
Subsequently I would like to thank my university for providing such an enriched Library, the
computer lab, internet facility without which this project would have been in a distant realm.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to my family and friends for their support and encouragement. I also
take this opportunity to thank all those people who contributed in their own small ways for the
completion of this project.
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Table of Contents
Declaration..................................................................................................................................... 1
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 3
Objectives....................................................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 6
1.5 Exemption from and restrictions upon the territorial jurisdiction ...................................... 12
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 17
Refrences ...................................................................................................................................... 18
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 18
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Research Methodology
The researcher has based his research on secondary sources of information like books, journals,
newspapers, and internet, more importantly on faculty advice. All other authorities relied on have
been duly mentioned in ‘Bibliography’ and various footnotes.
Objectives
The main objectives of this research project are-
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INTRODUCTION
“Jurisdiction” is arguably the most versatile term in current international law. Frequently used in
international legal instruments and yet never defined, the term can have different meanings in
different contexts. Depending on the circumstances, jurisdiction may refer to the totality of the
power or authority that a state has or exercises, in which case it is fully identifiable with
“sovereignty,” another often-used but likewise never clearly defined term in international law. The
term may also simply denote the power or authority of a state in a specific field, such as the levy
of taxes or the adjudication of cases by courts or other judicial authorities. Despite the fuzziness
of its contours, jurisdiction should be considered a central concept of international law. The reason
for this is that it signifies not only the endowment of each and every state with the internal capacity
to govern and the external standing to enter into international intercourse with other states, but also
the parameters, under international law, for the actual realization of such endowment. In a word,
jurisdiction describes, with varying degrees of precision in diverse situations, what a state can do
and what a state does. In this sense, jurisdiction can justifiably be regarded as the dynamic aspect
of the idea of sovereignty; it is what makes the notion of sovereignty visible and describable in
strictly legal (i.e., technical) terms. Through the concept of jurisdiction, sovereignty, otherwise an
elevated but amorphous notion, can now be assessed more or less accurately—both qualitatively
and quantitatively. However, it must be borne in mind that jurisdiction does much more than
simply give substance to the idea of sovereignty; it may also refer to those situations in which
sovereignty is restricted, reduced, or nonexistent. Moreover, jurisdiction may be subject to various
conditions and restrictions under international law, the most notable among these being sovereign
or state immunity.
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At the same time, international law does not allow a state to enforce its legislation outside its
territory without an international agreement or a rule of customary international law permitting the
state to do so.
For example, state A’s law says: adultery is an offence that is punishable by death. This law is
enforceable in the territory of state A; but, state A cannot enforce that law in state B even against
a citizen of state A. This means, for example, that state A cannot investigate the crime or arrest the
accused in state B’s territory without state B’s consent. The exercise of jurisdiction by a state over
property, persons, acts or even occurring within its territory is clearly conceded by international
law to all members of the society of states. The principle has been well put by Lord Macmillan :
1
(1927) PCIJ Series A, No 10.
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‘it is an essential attribute of the sovereignty of this realm, as of all sovereign independent States,
that it should possess jurisdiction over all persons and things within it’s territorial limits and in
all causes civil and criminal arising within these limits.’
According to the British practice, the mere physical presence of any person or thing within the
territory is sufficient to attract jurisdiction without the nocessiry for either domicile or residence.’
Indeed, under the so-called principle of ‘transient jurisdiction’, a British court may exercise
jurisdiction in regard to a person, based on the service of proceedings on him during a mere fleeting
visit to British territory.’ Furthermore, the legislature is presumed to intend that its legislation shall
be restricted in its application to persons, property and events in the territory over which it has
territorial jurisdiction, unless a contrary intention appears, and statutes are construed with
reference to this presumed intention.’2 A similar rule of construction is applied in the United States.
For the purposes of the exercise or territory jurisdiction it has been customary to assimilate to state
territory:
(b) Bearing the flag of the state wishing to exercise jurisdiction; and
(c) Ports.
1.1 Ports
A port is part of internal waters, and therefore is as fully portion of state territory as the land itself.
Nevertheless, ships of other states are subject to a special régime in port which has grown from
usage, and varies according to the practice of the state to which the port belongs. The general rule
is chat a merchant vessel enters the port of a foreign state subject to the local jurisdiction. The
derogations from this rule depend on the practice followed by each state. There is, however, an
important exception which belongs to the field of Customary international law, namely, that a
vessel in distress has a right to seek shelter in a foreign port, and on account of the circumstances
of its entry is considered immune from local jurisdiction, subject perhaps to the limitation that no
deliberate breaches of local municipal law are committed while it is in port. On the other hand,
2
Blackwood v. R 260 US 94 (1922).
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some authorities concede only a qualified immunity to such vessels. As we shall see below,’
foreign public vessels are subject to special rules of jurisdiction and their status in port is
considered in connection with these rules. Where offences or misdemeanors are committed on
hoard vessels berthed in foreign ports, jurisdiction depends on the practice followed by the
territorial state of the port concerned. The practice of the United States and of France is somewhat
different from that of Great Britain, a distinction being drawn between:
a) matters of internal discipline or internal economy of the vessel, over which the authorities of
the flag state, including consuls, are considered to have primary jurisdiction; and
(b) matters affecting the peace or good order of the port, which are reserved for the jurisdiction of
local courts and local authorities.
Thus, in ‘Wildehus’ Case’3 the United States Supreme Court held that the stabbing and killing of
one Belgian seaman by another on board a Belgian ship in an American port was subject to
Prosecution, and was excluded from the jurisdiction of the Belgian Consul.
Apart from the assimilation to territory of the territorial sea, of ships at Sea, and of ports, certain
technical extensions of the principle of territorial jurisdiction became necessary in order to justify
action taken by states in cases where one or more constituent elements of an act or offence took
place outside their territory. These extensions were occasioned by the increasing facilities for
speedy international communication and transport, leading to the commission of crimes in one
state which were engineered or prepared in another state. Some states in whose territory such
ancillary acts took place, declined to prosecute or punish the offenders responsible on the ground
that, as the acts were accessory to a principal offence committed elsewhere, the territorial
jurisdiction did not apply. But several states met the new conditions by technically extending the
territorial jurisdiction:
3
120 US 1 (1887).
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b. Pursuant to the Objective territorial Principle, certain states applied their territorial
jurisdiction to offences or acts commenced in another state, but: (i) consummated or
completed within their territory; or (ii) producing gravely harmful consequences to the
social or economic order inside their territory. The objective territorial theory was defined
by Professor Hyde as follows :
The objective principle plays a recognized role in respect of the exercise of the jurisdiction as to
multinational corporations, sometimes called ‘Transnational Corporations’.
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(i) that they are, by reason of some special immunity, not subject to the operation of
the local law; or
(ii) that the local law is not in conformity with international law.
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courts to exercise jurisdiction over a Mexican citizen illegally abducted from Mexico in respect of
crimes committed there against United States Law.’
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jurisdictional immunity used be Stated_as for example by Chief Justice Marshall of the United
States Supreme Court in 1812 in the classical case of Schooner Exchange.4
4
(1812) 7 Cranch 116.
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to be applicable outside Sweden. The Supreme Court held the Principle that “every crime
committed by a Sweden National may be punished even if committed abroad. During the
operation of UNPROFOR in former Yugoslavia, the Czech soldiers killed their captain, the
Czech authorities asserted jurisdiction based on Active Personality Principle. Thus, the ambit
of Active Personality Principle is extremely wide.
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or a Foreigner. Under US law this principle is relevant when an extraterritorial offence has or could
have an adverse effect on the internal security, Sovereignty, Integrity, treasury or other
governmental functions. The focus of this Principle is the nature of interest which is or may be
harmed rather than the place where it occurs. In United States v. Layton,5 the defendant Larry
Layton was charged with conspiracy to murder Leo Ryan a representative of US Congress, the US
District Court found that it had subject matter jurisdiction over all counts. The court applied several
bases of jurisdiction included the protective Principle. The Court held that killing a representative
impaired an important governmental function. The killing of representative amounted to an
extraterritorial act of terrorism and generally met the requisites of Protective Principle. It is unclear
whether the Protective Principle of Germany is expansive in nature than U.S. or not. Basic premise
of German Protective Principle is that the State will subject “offences committed abroad by
Foreigners (as well as Citizens) to its punitive power if thereby if domestic interests are endangered
or violated”. German concept of Protective Principle is broader in application than the one
prevalent in U.S. as it covers a number of interests violating which the punitive sanctions can be
taken.
The term “universal jurisdiction” refers to the idea that a national court may prosecute
individuals for any serious crime against international law — such as crimes against humanity,
war crimes, genocide, and torture — based on the principle that such crimes harm the international
community or international order itself, which individual States may act to protect. Generally,
universal jurisdiction is invoked when other, traditional bases of criminal jurisdiction do not exist,
for example: the defendant is not a national of the State, the defendant did not commit a crime in
that State’s territory or against its nationals, or the State’s own national interests are not adversely
affected.
The definition and exercise of universal jurisdiction varies around the world. A national or
international court’s authority to prosecute individuals for international crimes committed in other
territories depends on the relevant sources of law and jurisdiction, such as national legislation or
5
26 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 988
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an international agreement, which may, for example, require that only individuals within the
country’s national territory be subject to prosecution. Universal jurisdiction to national jurisdiction
difference gives the courts of any country the power to punish international crimes including
crimes against genocide and war crimes, humanity regardless of the territory where the offense
was committed and the nationality of perpetrator or victim. Universal jurisdiction is therefore, as
a concept applied to a relatively recent phenomenon unknown to the majority.
States are also different ways to implement their international obligations. Other examples are
Germany and Spain, where general provisions have been adopted by which the national criminal
law can also be applied to acts committed abroad when there is an international obligation to
punish. The lack of precision and clarity in the definition of international crimes is a major
constraint in the implementation of universal jurisdiction. The result is a newly developed concept
and little known, the states lack the experience and in many cases the political will to exercise it,
especially when this could cause tensions in foreign relations with other states. In this perspective
some legal systems, such as Germany, have introduced special limitations on the exercise of
universal jurisdiction. In this case, it requires establishing a link with Germany before applying
universal jurisdiction.
The fight against impunity has been at the heart of the fight for a fairer world. Long this struggle
has been reserved to the States, the traditional subjects of international law, each with its national
criminal law, passed laws which it deemed necessary to achieve the greatest degree of justice.
Today a national struggle against impunity, we went to an international struggle, with the
development of international criminal law.
International criminal law is still young. Nevertheless, gained increasing importance, especially
through the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998 and the creation of the International Criminal
Court came into force in 2002. This march toward internationalization of criminal law does not
allow for much believe that states, nationally, are devoid of any function. In contrast, international
criminal law should be seen as complementary and alternative to the struggle of national courts
against impunity. In other words, the priority remains to national, international law only intervenes
in case of deficiency of the latter.
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CONCLUSION
It is not easy to provide a general overview of the notion of jurisdiction without leaning too much
toward either the theoretical or the practical side. Although earlier authors may have found it
justifiable to resort to purely doctrinal ruminations, it has become increasingly necessary to discuss
jurisdiction in the light of concrete instances of the exercise of jurisdiction or even within the
limited context of, say, criminal jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is thus a concept at the same level as
sovereignty. Starting with the Lotus Case (see the Case of the S.S. “Lotus” under the Territoriality
of Jurisdiction) and the territoriality principle, and then discussing the exercise of extraterritorial
criminal jurisdiction before exploring the doctrinal basis of jurisdiction. Because jurisdiction in its
practical sense from the perspective of public international law concerns primarily international
criminal matters, it is always useful to see how the issue of jurisdiction is approached in the context
of international criminal law, which, given the rapidly growing case law and literature, can now
rightfully be regarded as a full discipline of law in its own right. Jurisdiction may refer to the
totality of the power or authority that a state has or exercises, in which case it is fully identifiable
with “sovereignty,” another often-used but likewise never clearly defined term in international
law. The term may also simply denote the power or authority of a state in a specific field, such as
the levy of taxes or the adjudication of cases by courts or other judicial authorities. Despite the
fuzziness of its contours, jurisdiction should be considered a central concept of international law.
The reason for this is that it signifies not only the endowment of each and every state with the
internal capacity to govern and the external standing to enter into international intercourse with
other states, but also the parameters, under international law, for the actual realization of such
endowment. In a word, jurisdiction describes, with varying degrees of precision in diverse
situations, what a state can do and what a state does. In this sense, jurisdiction can justifiably be
regarded as the dynamic aspect of the idea of sovereignty; it is what makes the notion of
sovereignty visible and describable in strictly legal (i.e., technical) terms. Through the concept of
jurisdiction, sovereignty, otherwise an elevated but amorphous notion, can now be assessed more
or less accurately—both qualitatively and quantitatively. However, it must be borne in mind that
jurisdiction does much more than simply give substance to the idea of sovereignty; it may also
refer to those situations in which sovereignty is restricted, reduced, or nonexistent.
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References
Bibliography
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