Jurisdiction

The Convention requires States to establish jurisdiction to investigate, prosecute and punish all offences established under the Convention and the Protocols. Article 15 of the Convention requires jurisdiction to be established in three circumstances: (a) over all offences committed within the State’s territorial jurisdiction; (b) over all offences committed on board a vessel or aircraft registered to the State; and (c) if the national legislation prohibits the extradition of its own nationals, jurisdiction must be established over the offences committed by them anywhere in the world. This third circumstance is to permit the State to meet its obligation under the Convention to prosecute offenders who cannot be extradited on request owing to nationality. The Convention requires each State party to adopt “such measures as may be necessary”, in recognition of the fact that different legal systems would approach the establishment of jurisdictionin a range of ways. Article 15 of the Convention also contains optional provisions to further extend jurisdiction.

Related Subject(s): International Law and Justice