It depends on several principles, which sometimes overlap and cause confusion (with the result for example that fist fights on cruise ships are a nightmare for the authorities). The first principle is that the country in which the relevant ship/aircraft is registered has jurisdiction. If that country can't or won't take action though, then international law recognises the right of the country of a person involved (the victim generally) to take jusrisdiction. However, there are some crimes where any country can accept jurisdiction to prosecute: piracy, slave trading or narcotics smuggling for example are subject to specific international laws. You may also find, especially if you're a passenger on a ship, that your ticket requires you to accept that the laws of a particular country will apply in the event of any crime or incident during the voyage and an agrement like that (in the small print on the back of the booking) is generally binding.
The responsibility for the act lies with the country of registration of the vessel. Therefore, if you committed a crime on a British registered vessel, then the British Government would have the option of prosecuting you.
Tha Gopher wrote: » Where do international waters begin and end? Imagine the business a Dutch registered mega ship would do docked 12 miles off Dublin with the day tripper crowd. Everyone coming back with glazed eyes and an empty sack.
Spitfire666 wrote: » dont know about ships but with planes, its the country that the plane lands in that has jurisdiction. if a plane going from france to england for example, has to divert to ireland because of an air rage incident, the person would be tried in ireland then deported to the country where the plane took off from. which would be france. And the guilty person can find themselves in a situation where they will never be allowed to fly again.
d0gb0y wrote: » Set up your own kingdom :cool:http://www.sealandgov.org/
Macers wrote: » Is this really true? Like if I was to kill someone on my own boat I can't technically be tried? I heard if something happend on a plane or boat you're dealt with the laws the plane/boat is registered in...? * rubs chin* I'm getting ideas here...
Victor wrote: » This is all well and good until the country where Macers boat is registered tries him for murder. But wait, what if Macers boat isn't registered in any country? Macers gets away scot free? Well no, vessels that aren't registered in any country get done for piracy aswell.
-annex- wrote: » It's not a grey area at all. The limits are set down by the UN Law of the Sea. International waters generally don't start until beyond 200 nautical miles, even further for us as we extended our continental shelf off the south-west coast beyond the standard 200 nautical mile limit. Seems like a lot of fuel and hassle to go all the way out there just for some under-age drinking/murder; whatever you're in to.