What law is in effect in the international terminal of an airport? Using Heathrow as an example, does British law apply or is there some kind of Uniform Code of Airport Justice? Cecil’s column seems to insinuate that the airport has, at least from an immigration standpoint, somewhat different laws than the rest of the country.
Heathrow is completely subject to British law, but other countries may extend their own jurisdiction over acts taking place there that touch and concern them, or over the conduct of their own nationals there. For example, if an American citizen blows up part of Heathrow with an explosive device and flees to America, the U.S. can either hand him over to Britain for prosecution or prosecute him under 18 U.S.C. Ch.2 § 37 - Violence at international airports.
The three major New York airports (JFK, LaGuardia and Newark-Liberty) are under the jusrisdiction of the Port Authority police, who also cover the PA bus terminal on 8 Avenue as well as several bridges and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.
Postcards:
That’s the department having ?primary? jurisdiction. Would they not be enforcing the laws of New York State?
Well, no, at Newark Liberty they enforce the laws of New Jersey.
I can’t link directly to the page, but click on ‘About the Port Authority’ in the link I provided, and then click ‘Port Authority Police’
Yes, British law applies throughout Heathrow, and is enforced by the Metropolitan Police.
Cecil’s column is talking about immigration, which is separate from crime (it’s possible to commit a crime by not following immigration rules, but they’re still two separate things). IIRC, Nasseri was living airside, and so was outside French immigration, but if he killed someone would still be tried for murder.
Not a snipe at you, Postcards , but the PA really needs to hire some copy editors. There is no Drug Enforcement Agency. They are the Drug Enforcement Administration , with a real Administrator and everything. Sorry, just a frequent mistake made in newspapers and other publications that always irks me. Incidentally, I understand that the reason that the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) was renamed (they dropped the “Bureau” part and became ICE) was because folks were calling them “the Bureau,” which annoyed the folks at the FBI.
What about planes in flight internationally? Is it dependent on whose airspace they’re in, where they’re going, does the captain get to decide everything?
Mostly it’s the flag of the craft that determines the rules, although there are also international treaties and laws that are applicable.
In Canada, airports are specifically under federal law, rather than the surrounding province. Specific security authority is held by the recently-formed Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). I tried looking through a pile of stuff from the websites of CATSA, the Department of Justice, Immigration Canada and even the RCMP and my eyes started to glaze over. I take it that someone’s in charge, and biggest problem for a given incident is figuring out exactly who.