15.1 Extended Geographical Jurisdiction Category A

Commonwealth Criminal Code: Guide for practitioners 

15.1 Extended Geographical Jurisdiction Category A

(1) If a law of the Commonwealth provides that this section applies to a particular offence, a person does not commit the offence unless:

  1. (a) the conduct constituting the alleged offence occurs:
    1. (i) wholly or partly in Australia; or
    2. (ii) wholly or partly on board an Australian aircraft or  an Australian ship; or
  2. (b) the conduct constituting the alleged offence occurs wholly outside Australia and a result of the conduct occurs:
    1. (i) wholly or partly in Australia; or
    2. (ii) wholly or partly on board an Australian aircraft or  an Australian ship; or
  3. (c) the conduct constituting the alleged offence occurs wholly outside Australia and:
    1. (i) at the time of the alleged offence, the person is an Australian citizen; or
    2. (ii) at the time of the alleged offence, the person is a body corporate incorporated by or under a law of  the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory; or
  4. (d) all of the following conditions are satisfied:
    1. (i) the alleged offence is an ancillary offence;
    2. (ii) the conduct constituting the alleged offence occurs wholly outside Australia;
    3. (iii) the conduct constituting the primary offence to which the ancillary offence relates, or a result of that conduct, occurs, or is intended by the person to occur, wholly or partly in Australia or wholly or partly on board an Australian aircraft or an Australian ship.

Note: The expression offence is given an extended meaning by subsection 11.2(1), section 11.3 and subsection 11.6(1).

((2) - (5) deal with the defences and are not reproduced here.)

Overview

Where this category of jurisdiction applies, jurisdiction will be satisfied if a requirement for ‘standard geographical jurisdiction’ is met or the alternative requirement in s15.1(c) is met. That alternative requirement is met if at the time of the alleged offence the person charged with the offence was an Australian citizen or was a body corporate incorporated by or under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory (‘a national’).

As in ss14.1, there is a defence in proposed ss15.1(2) which may be available depending on the law of a foreign country where the conduct has wholly occurred. However, that defence is not available if jurisdiction is to be exercised under ss15.1(c) on the basis of the person’s nationality.