What happens if someone commits a crime on a cruise ship? Say a passenger/crewmember rapes/kills somebody while the ship is in international waters; where would the trial be held? Would it be in the home country of the accused, the victim, or whatever nation the ship is flying under the flag of?
In nearly every instance, if you commit a crime in international waters, you are charged in your home country.
Google “International Law of the Sea”.
That is to say that all objects at sea are required to have a national character. Stuff in international waters without national character.
So any ship, boat, offshore platform or whatnot is part of a country and that country’s laws apply on it.
When a ship is in the national waters of a state, its laws apply (except for public ships, where the owner’s rules hold sway).
And here’s more fun: Did you know that here in the U.S. when you go on a cruise Customs & Immigration runs a background check on you? So if you committed a crime before you went, you get a nice, shiny new pair of bracelets and a police escort when you get back. :eek:
I see this happen quite often; up to 5 cruises a month. People get nailed for failure to pay child support, nonpayment of parking tickets, violating parole, etc. (How can you not know that going to 3 foreign countries is a violation of your parole??) :smack:
So check your rap sheet before you buy those tickets!
So what happens if you kill someone in international waters and then escape to another country (say, wherever the ship next docked at)? Are you subject to the normal extradition rules?
I don’t understand.
I’m free and clear here in Illinois (where I reside), but there’s udoubtedly a warrant out for my arrest in Florida (unpaid speeding ticket). Does that mean that when I get back from my cruise, Florida authorities will be there waiting for me? :eek:
Issac cuts off your tab at the bar, & you are banned from Aloha Deck for life. 
Well, you know something’s up when the fussy French guy starts interviewing everybody.
(No wait, that’s trains. Sorry.)
He is not a Frenchie. He is a Belgie. Read your Cristie.
He interviewed people on that ship in Death on the Nile. Just take precautions when anybody with a waxed mustache is asking questions.
Where I work (Port of Galveston, TX) the port has its own police force and they are usually the ones who do the apprehending. It’s rare to see somebody cuffed by the C&I officials but it does happen. I can ask one of the port police to verify but from what I can tell C&I rats on you and the port police or local sheriff’s office hauls you off.
I was immediately reminded of the Madeleine L’engle novel “Dragons in the waters”, in which a man is shot on board a small cruise ship while it is travelling, IIRC, through the south carribbean towards South America. The captain puts in to the nearest port of call, in Venezuela, and local authorities investigate the murder, even though I think the ship was registered out of Holland.
On the other hand, the intent at that point was to determine the identity of the killer, since it would have taken the boat at least a month or more to get back to Holland, and many of the passengers had business somewhere in south america that would take several months. In the end,
I think the killer was the first officer of the ship.
IANAL, but if those two countries have an extradition treaty, they will haul you back to your home country.
But probably on a plane.
According to this audio report (yes audio…relevant bits for this are mentioned around 3:45 into the report) it says the laws under which a vessle is flagged apply aboard the ship. Whether that is true in US national waters or only in international waters I do not know.
That said the report also goes on to say that the cruise lines (or at least Norwegian Cruise Lines which the report is on) prints on their tickets that passenger disputes will be settled in US courts.
Note: The report above is about the ADA and the Supreme Court case to determine if it applies to ships but I thought those tidbits above were relevant to this discussion.
Mind if I play?
IANAL - but I do have one semester of International Public Law under my belt. Also I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Generally speaking, a crime committed in International Waters will be punishable under the law of the flag state (the state where the ship is registered). If the ship is sailing through territorial waters, however, then technically they are under the jurisdiction of the territorial state (and not the ship state). In practice, the territorial state typically waives their right to prosecute in favor of the flag state.
It gets trickier when you are looking at the facts of the crime. Let’s take a murder for example.
Say there is a murder on a French ship in UK waters with a Belgian killing an Icelander. The UK has jurisdiction because the ship is in its waters. They will probably waive that jurisdiction in favor of France. Belgium has jurisdiction under what is called the active nationality principle. The killer is Belgian - therefore Belgium has jurisdiction over him. Iceland will have jurisdiction under the passive personality principle because the victim was an Icelander.
Let’s go even further and make the Belgian a PIRATE. In that case the crime of piracy is an international crime. Any jurisdiction that wishes to assert jurisdiction over the Belgian may do so.
Any questions?
- Peter Wiggen
Hahaha
Thanks Peter,
That was great. You have a nice thorough examination, then you bring in the pirates!
I couldn’t get the image out of my head of some swashbuckler slashing some tall, blonde norwegian on the deck of a ship.
Won’t someone think of the Pirates?
