Do the laws of the United States apply to me if I go overseas?

[Gfactor]

@kimera

I read about it first in a newspaper article, I think OCRegister. But I also just searched online and found other sources.
Wikipedia and Ageofconsent.com

Okay, so what about drugs? I can’t believe that if I went overseas to where it was legal and smoked a joint or ate a few shrooms I could get in trouble with the US govt.

As a basic rule:

Most crime is territorial. It is proscribed, investigated, tried, and punished under the law of the place where it occurs. As a general rule, no nation’s laws apply within the territory of another.

http://www.pennyhill.com/criminaljustice/rl31557.html
http://library.lp.findlaw.com/articles/file/00326/006683/title/Subject/topic/International%20Law_International%20Comity/filename/internationallaw_1_780

As the above citations suggest. The matter gets pretty complicated, and there have been some glaring exceptions made in the pursuit and prosecution of Panamanian strongmen, and terrorists.

[Johnny_L.A]

@Really Not All That Bright

The Netherlands will not extradite you for an act which is not a crime in that country- just about every extradition treaty specifies that the act must be a crime in both states for extradition proceedings to take place.

So suppose I go to The Netherlands and participate in an activity that is not illegal in that country, but is illegal in the U.S. (I don’t know about the marijuana laws in The Netherlands – I thought I’d heard something about them making it illegal for foreigners to partake – so let’s just use a hypothetical law.) Now suppose the U.S. finds out and decides that I will be prosecuted upon my return to the U.S. Would I then be eligible for political asylum? Would I be allowed to live and work in The Netherlands? Would I be able to return to the U.S. after the statute of limitations expires, and to return to The Netherlands (or elsewhere) at will?

[Chronos]

just about every extradition treaty specifies that the act must be a crime in both states for extradition proceedings to take place.

Does it just need to be a crime in both, or does it need to be the same crime?

I’m not familiar enough with the laws of particular nations to construct a concrete example, so let’s consider hypothetical countries A and B. In A, prostitution is legal, and the age of consent for sex is 18. In B, prostitution is illegal, but the age of consent is 16. A man travels from A to B and while in B, hires a 16 year old prostitute. Both countries agree that what the man did was illegal, but they don’t agree what his crime is: Under A’s laws, he’s guilty of having sex with a minor, but under B’s, he’s guilty of soliciting a prostitute. Can and would B extradite him back to A?

[flight]

OK, so you may be able to get away with things in other countries where their laws are different, but what about international waters? Can you sail out a few miles and smoke up or something and then sail home scot free?

[Gfactor]

@Chronos

Does it just need to be a crime in both, or does it need to be the same crime?

I’m not familiar enough with the laws of particular nations to construct a concrete example, so let’s consider hypothetical countries A and B. In A, prostitution is legal, and the age of consent for sex is 18. In B, prostitution is illegal, but the age of consent is 16. A man travels from A to B and while in B, hires a 16 year old prostitute. Both countries agree that what the man did was illegal, but they don’t agree what his crime is: Under A’s laws, he’s guilty of having sex with a minor, but under B’s, he’s guilty of soliciting a prostitute. Can and would B extradite him back to A?

Well, it’s a little more complicated because of the example. Double criminality seems to require that the offense be the same. Statutory rape and prostitution are two different offenses. More important, the offense must be serious. Few jurisdictions would consider prostitution a serious crime. Statutory rape is considered more serious, however, as the age increases, the seriousness of the crime would seem to decrease.

That’s my read, anyway.