Jurisdiction With Regard to International Law

International Law is that body of rules that countries recognize as binding upon one another in their mutual relations. The nationality of a person is generally determined by the municipal law of a state. International law only lays down certain limits for states to prescribe which criteria are relevant for nationality. Under the active nationality principle, a state can prosecute its nationals for crimes committed anywhere in the world. This rule is universally accepted, and many countries make extensive use of it. Courts across the United States exercise jurisdiction on the basis of nationality of the individual. Under the Restatement (Third), a state can exercise its jurisdiction over a person who is a national of that state. However the US courts ‘may try a person only for violation of United States law, not for violation of the penal law of a foreign state’. Likewise courts in England do not usually enforce the criminal laws of foreign states. Certain countries claim jurisdiction on the grounds of personal links besides nationality for example, long residence by the accused in the state exercising jurisdiction), and other states have not protested against such jurisdiction.

Many countries exercise jurisdiction over all crimes, including all crimes (or at least serious crimes) committed by foreigners abroad. Such universal jurisdiction is generally considered as forbidden under international law by English speaking countries. Although the Permanent Court of International Justice did not deal with this issue of universal jurisdiction, individual judges have on many occasions held it to be against the principles of international law. When an individual is punished elsewhere for an act which was lawful under the law of the place where it was committed, it can result in miscarriage of justice. However sometimes, this universality principle is accepted by most countries including the English speaking countries who generally consider the universality principle as generally contrary to international law. This principle is generally accepted over certain acts which threaten the international community as a whole and which are criminal in all countries, such as war crimes, piracy, hijacking and various forms of international terrorism. When countries exercise universal jurisdiction in its broad sense to punish certain crimes, wherever and by whomsoever they have been committed, without any required connection to territory, nationality or special state interest, it can cause a lot of diplomatic problems.

Under the traditional definition, while states are the subjects of international law, international law by itself is the set of norms that regulate the mutual behavior of states. International law is usually made up of norms which originally were created by custom, that is by acts of the national states or, more correctly formulated, by the state-organs authorized by national legal orders to regulate inter-state relations. Seek the services of an international law firm if you facing an issue involving international law.