State Jurisdiction

An Indian citizen working on a cargo ship in the Gulf commits a crime on board. The ship is registered in Panama, the victim is a Filipino sailor, and the ship later docks at Mumbai. Which country's courts may try him? Jurisdiction is a State's legal power to make, apply and enforce its law, and international law decides how far that power may reach beyond its borders. This topic sets out the recognised grounds, how Indian statutes use them, and the limits that immunities place on them.

In two minutes

Jurisdiction is a State's power to prescribe, adjudicate and enforce law; it is strongest over its territory and, beyond it, rests on recognised links such as nationality of the offender, the protection of vital State interests, the nationality of the victim, or, for the gravest crimes, the universal interest of all States.

The rest of this chapter

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