Timeline for Who has jurisdiction if a crime is committed across an international border?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 4, 2018 at 15:42 | comment | added | cpast | @The_Sympathizer It depends on the law in question. Some US laws apply to citizens everywhere in the world, but most don't. Treason does; drug possession doesn't. | |
| Nov 4, 2018 at 10:29 | history | edited | Dale M♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 240 characters in body; added 5 characters in body
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| Nov 4, 2018 at 10:26 | comment | added | Dale M♦ | @The_Sympathizer The law must have extra-territorial effect. | |
| Nov 4, 2018 at 8:29 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | Esp. if somehow I make the fact of doing so well-known and easily noticeable to a Prosecutor, like, for example, making an Internet travel vlog where I talked about lighting up joints as part of what I did? | |
| Nov 4, 2018 at 8:25 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | @Dale M : So does this mean that if you travel to a foreign country as a US citizen, you cannot do an act that in that country would be legal under its law, but is illegal under US law? For example, if I go to Canada now (as of this posting) and smoke some Marijuana, but don't bring any back with me, could/would I be charged with drug possession in the US since it is illegal under Federal law and I am a citizen even thought not on US territory? | |
| Nov 15, 2017 at 7:39 | comment | added | Dale M♦ | @Trevor federal states can be bound by federal precedent - that would settle the law for that country. Sovereign states would need to settle the law for themselves - hopefully this would result in one of them taking the ball and running with it, but maybe not. | |
| Nov 15, 2017 at 0:06 | comment | added | Trevor | Interesting answer. The example in the question uses borders of countries. I'd think borders of states within a country may be quite different eg in Australia shooting someone in one state from another state the crime is committed in the state the victim is in as determined by the high court in WARD v. THE QUEEN (1980) 142 CLR 308 1 May 1980 | |
| Apr 4, 2016 at 20:18 | comment | added | user900 | +1, especially with Canada, if you're a Canadian citizen you can be charged for committing an act that is deemed criminal at home, even if the place where you committed the act was legal. | |
| Apr 2, 2016 at 15:36 | comment | added | phoog | @Cicero the US can also disclaim jurisdiction when a federal officer shoots across the Mexican border and kills a Mexican teenager. | |
| Mar 30, 2016 at 21:32 | comment | added | Dale M♦ | @Cicero Its more than a claim - they definitely can. | |
| Mar 29, 2016 at 22:09 | comment | added | Cicero | Pretty much this. Countries will look for excuses to prosecute anybody they can. The United States often prosecutes people who commit crimes on the high seas or in foreign countries with no other reason than they are American citizens. It is not unusual for American courts to claim they can prosecute any American citizen anywhere in the world for breaking US laws even though the person is not in the United States. | |
| Mar 29, 2016 at 20:46 | history | answered | Dale M♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |