States’ criminal jurisdiction under International Law: fostering a common and better understanding

Abstract

Over the past few years, the extent to which international law allows States to exercise their jurisdiction in criminal matters has been a subject of diplomatic tensions between States. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light, on the question as to what extent a State, powerful or weak, has a right under international law to extend its criminal jurisdiction to cover crimes committed in foreign States.

Keywords: Universal jurisdiction, extraterritorial jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, international crimes, States’ jurisdiction under international law