CHAP.

a murder (a) on board a foreign ship on the high seas is not amenable to the law of England (R. v. Lewis, 26 L. J. M. C. XXXVI. 104), and, in general, for an offence committed by a foreigner on board a foreign ship he cannot be tried in England.

A German vessel carrying the German flag, under the command and immediate direction of the prisoner, a German subject, collided with an English steamer navigating the English Channel at a point within 2 miles from Dover beach, and the collision caused the English ship to sink and the death by drowing of an English subject on board of her. The prisoner was tried and found guilty of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court:—Held, before the passing of the 41 & 42 Vict. c. 73, by the majority of the court, that the Central Criminal Court had no jurisdiction to try the case. (The Franconia case, 46 L. J. M. C. 17.) In this case was discussed the question whether the open sea within 3 miles of the coast of England is a part of the territory of England. It may be doubtful whether this case was correctly decided the judgment of Lord Justice BRETT may be read with advantage.

In consequence of this decision was passed the 41 & 42 Vict. c. 73-The Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act, 1878. This Act enacts that "the rightful jurisdiction of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, extends and has always extended, over the open seas adjacent to the coasts of the United Kingdom and of all other parts of Her Majesty's dominions to such a distance as is necessary for the defence and security of such dominions: and that it is expedient that all offences committed on the open sea within a certain distance of the coasts of the United Kingdom and of all other parts of Her Majesty's dominions, by whomsoever committed, shall be dealt with according to law."

By sect. 2 of this Act, "an offence committed by a person, whether he is or is not a subject of Her Majesty, on the open sea within the territorial waters of Her Majesty's dominions, is an offence within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, although it may have been committed on board or by means of a foreign ship, and the person who committed such offence may be arrested, tried, and punished accordingly."

(a) The Criminal Code Commissioners state that no enactment at present touches a British subject committing murder on the high seas when on board a foreign ship to which he belongs. (Crim. Code n. to s. 178.) See 1 Russ. on Crimes, pp. 10-23.

PART VIII By sect. 3 of this Act, proceedings under it for the trial and punishment of a person who is not a subject of Her Majesty cannot be instituted except with the consent of one of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, &c. See also sect. 4. By sect. 7 of the Act, unless there is something inconsistent in the context, the following expression has the meaning hereinafter assigned to it: that is to say-"The territorial waters of Her Majesty's dominions in reference to the sea, means such part of the sea adjacent to the coast of the United Kingdom, or the coast of some other part of Her Majesty's dominions, as is deemed by international law to be within the territorial sovereignty of Her Majesty; and for the purpose of any offence declared by this Act to be within the jurisdiction of the Admiral, any part of the open sea within one marine league of the coast measured from low-water mark, shall be deemed to be open sea within the territorial waters of Her Majesty's dominions."

It seems that vessels of war in the territorial limits of a foreign state are exempt from the jurisdiction of such state. (But see Forbes v. Cochrane, 2 B. & C. 467, per BEST, J.)

At common law the Court of Admiralty had jurisdiction to try offences punishable by the English law committed on the high seas; but the courts of common law had not. Crim. Law, 186.)

(Chit.

There are and have been many statutes as to the trial of offences committed or partly committed on the high seas. Some of these statutes of general importance will now be noticed. Offences committed on the high seas and other places within the Admiralty of England may be heard and determined by justices of assize or commissioners by whom any court is held under commissions of oyer and terminer or general gaol delivery. (7 Geo. 4, c. 64, s. 27; 7 & 8 Vict. c. 2, s. 1.) The venue where such an offence is so tried is laid where the trial takes place, and material facts are alleged to have taken place on the high seas. By the 4 & 5 Will. 4, c. 36, s. 22, ante, p. 29, offences committed on the high seas and other places within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England (2 Hale, 12) may be tried, &c., at the Central Criminal Court.

By the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, 17 & 18 Vict. c. 104, s. 267, "all offences against property or person committed in or at any place either ashore or afloat out of H. M.'s dominions by any master, seaman, or apprentice, who at the time when the offence is committed is, or within 3 months previously has been employed in any British ship (R. v.

XXXVI.

Armstrong, 13 Cox C. C. 184), are deemed to be offences of CHAP. the same nature respectively, and are liable to the same punishments, respectively, and are tried, &c., in the same manner, and by the same courts, and in the same places as if such offences had been committed within the jurisdiction of the admiralty of England. The 18 & 19 Vict. c. 91, s. 21, also enacts, that if any person, being a British subject, charged with having committed any crime or offence on board any British ship on the high seas or in any harbour; or if any person, not being a British subject, charged with having committed any crime or offence on board any British ship on the high seas, is found at the time of his trial (R. v. Lopez, Dears. & B. 525; 27 L. J. M. C. 48), within the jurisdiction of any court of justice in H. M.'s dominions which would have had cognizance of such crime or offence if committed within the limits of its ordinary jurisdiction, such court has jurisdiction to hear and try the case as if such crime or offence had been committed within such limits,

By 30 & 31 Vict. c. 124, s. 11, if a British subject commits a crime on board a British ship, or on board a foreign ship to which he does not belong, any court in the Queen's dominions, which would have had cognizance of such crime if committed on board a British ship within the limits of the ordinary jurisdiction of such court, has jurisdiction to hear and determine the case as if the said crime had been committed as last aforesaid.

By 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 10, "where any person being feloniously stricken, poisoned, or otherwise hurt upon the sea, or at any place out of England or Ireland, shall die of such stroke, poisoning, or hurt in England or Ireland, or being feloniously stricken, poisoned, or otherwise hurt at any place in England or Ireland, shall die of such stroke, poisoning, or hurt upon the sea, or at any place out of England or Ireland, every offence committed in respect of any such case, whether the same shall amount to the offence of murder or of manslaughter, or of being accessory to murder or manslaughter, may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in the county or place in England or Ireland in which such death, stroke, poisoning, or hurt shall happen, in the same manner in all respects as if such offence had been wholly committed in that county or place."

If one foreigner inflicts a blow on another foreigner in a foreign vessel on the high seas, and the person so struck in a few days afterwards lands in England and dies there, the homicide is not cognizable by the courts of this country by

N

PART VIII virtue of this statute. (R. v. Lewis, 26 L. J. M. C. 104.) Where a man in a boat on the high seas was shot by a person on the shore, and died instantly, it was held that the stroke and death were both upon the high seas. (R. v. Coombe, 1 Leach 388; Franconia case, ante, p. 263.)

Endorsing warrant

Each of the Consolidation Acts of 1861; the Larceny Act; the Malicious Injuries to Property Act; the Forgery Act; the Coinage Act; and the Offences against the Person Act, contains the following clause: "All indictable offences mentioned in this Act which shall be committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England or Ireland shall be deemed to be offences of the same nature and liable to the same punishments as if they had been committed upon the land in England or Ireland, and may be dealt with, inquired of, tried and determined in any county or place in England or Ireland in which the offender shall be apprehended or be in custody, in the same manner in all respects as if they had been actually committed in that county or place; and in any indictment for any such offence, or for being an accessory to such an offence, the venue in the margin shall be the same as if the offence had been committed in such county or place, and the offence shall be averred to have been committed on the high seas' Provided that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect any of the laws relating to the government of Her Majesty's land or naval forces." (R. v. Peel, 32 L. J. M. C. 65.)

Where any person within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England becomes accessory to any felony, his offence is felony, and the venue in the margin of the indictment is the same as if the offence had been committed in the county or place in which he is indicted, and his offence is averred to have been committed on the high seas. (24 & 25 Vict. c. 94, s. 9.)

Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881.

A person accused of having committed an offence in one part of H. M.'s dominions may be arrested in another part thereof under the 44 & 45 Vict. c. 69, called the Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881, which came into operation on the 1st January, 1882. It will be useful to notice some of the provisions of this Act.

Sect. 3. "Where a warrant has been issued in one part of H. M.'s dominions for the apprehension of a fugitive from that for appre part, any of the following authorities in another part of hension of H. M.'s dominions in or on the way to which the fugitive is fugitive. or is suspected to be; (that is to say,)

(1.) A judge of a superior court in such part; and

CHAP.

(2.) In the U. K. a Secretary of State and one of the XXXVI. magistrates of the metropolitan police court in

Bow Street; and

(3.) In a British possession the governor of that posses

sion :

if satisfied that the warrant was issued by some person having lawful authority to issue the same, may endorse such warrant in manner provided by this Act, and the warrant so endorsed shall be a sufficient authority to apprehend the fugitive in the part of H. M.'s dominions in which it is endorsed, and bring him before a magistrate."

warrant for apprehension of fugitive.

Sect. 4. "A magistrate of any part of H. M.'s dominions may Proviissue a provisional warrant for the apprehension of a fugitive sional who is or is suspected of being in or on his way to that part on such information, and under such circumstances, as would in his opinion justify the issue of a warrant if the offence of which the fugitive is accused had been committed within his jurisdiction, and such warrant may be backed and executed accordingly.

A magistrate issuing a provisional warrant shall forthwith send a report of the issue, together with the information or a certified copy thereof, if he is in the U. K., to a Secretary of State, and if he is in a British possession, to the governor of that possession, and the Secretary of State or governor may, if he think fit, discharge the person apprehended under such warrant."

Sect. 5. "A fugitive when apprehended shall be brought Dealing before a magistrate, who (subject to the provisions of this with. fugitive Act) shall hear the case in the same manner and have the when same jurisdiction and powers, as near as may be (including apprethe power to remand and admit to bail), as if the fugitive hended. were charged with an offence committed within his jurisdiction. If the endorsed warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive is duly authenticated, and such evidence is produced as (subject to the provisions of this Act) according to the law ordinarily administered by the magistrate, raises a strong or probable presumption that the fugitive committed the offence mentioned in the warrant, and that the offence is one to which this part of this Act applies, the magistrate shall commit the fugitive to prison to await his return, and shall forthwith send a certificate of the committal and such report of the case as he may think fit, if in the U. K. to a Secretary of State, and if in a British possession to the governor of that possession.

Where the magistrate commits the fugitive to prison hẹ