Suppression of Terrorism Act 1978

4Jurisdiction in respect of offences committed outside United Kingdom

(1)If a person, whether a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or not, does in a convention country any act which, if he had done it in a part of the United Kingdom, would have made him guilty in that part of the United Kingdom of—

(a)an offence mentioned in paragraph 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 of Schedule 1 to this Act; or

(b)an offence of attempting to commit any offence so mentioned,

he shall, in that part of the United Kingdom, be guilty of the offence or offences aforesaid of which the act would have made him guilty if he had done it there.

(2)If a person, whether a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or not, does in a convention country any act to or in relation to a protected person which, if he had done it in a part of the United Kingdom, would have made him guilty in that part of the United Kingdom of—

(a)an offence mentioned in paragraph 3, 6, 8 or 9 of Schedule 1 to this Act; or

(b)an offence of attempting to commit any offence so mentioned,

he shall, in that part of the United Kingdom, be guilty of the offence or offences aforesaid of which the act would have made him guilty if he had done it there.

For the purposes of this subsection it is immaterial whether a person knows that another person is a protected person.

(3)If a person who is a national of a convention country but not a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies does outside the United Kingdom and that convention country any act which makes him in that convention country guilty of an offence and which, if he had been a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, would have made him in any part of the United Kingdom guilty of an offence mentioned in paragraph 1, 2 or 13 of Schedule 1 to this Act, he shall, in any part of the United Kingdom, be guilty of the offence or offences aforesaid of which the act would have made him guilty if he had been such a citizen.

(4)Proceedings for an offence which would not be an offence apart from this section shall not be instituted—

(a)in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland; or

(b)in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Attorney General;

and references to a consent provision in Article 7(3) to (5) of the [S.I. 1972/538 (N.I. 1).] Prosecution of Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 (which relates to consents to prosecutions) shall include so much of this subsection as precedes paragraph (b).

(5)Without prejudice to any jurisdiction exercisable apart from this subsection, every sheriff court in Scotland shall have jurisdiction to entertain proceedings for an offence which would not be an offence in Scotland apart from this section.

(6)In this section " a protected person" means, in relation to any such act as is mentioned in subsection (2) above, any o the following, namely—

(a)a person who at the time of the act is a Head of State a member of a body which performs the functions o Head of State under the constitution of the State, i Head of Government or a Minister for Foreign Affairs and is outside the territory of the State in which he holds office;

(b)a person who at the time of the act is a representative or an official of a State or an official or agent of an international organisation of an inter-governmental character, is entitled under international law to special protection from attack on his person, freedom or dignity and does not fall within the preceding paragraph;

(c)a person who at the time of the act is a member of the family of another person mentioned in either of the preceding paragraphs and—

(i)if the other person is mentioned in paragraph (a) above, is accompanying him, or

(ii)if the other person is mentioned in paragraph (b) above, is a member of his household ;

and if in any proceedings a question arises as to whether a person is or was a protected person, a certificate issued by or under the authority of the Secretary of State and stating any fad relating to the question shall be conclusive evidence of that fact.

(7)For the purposes of this section any act done—

(a)on board a ship registered in a convention country, being an act which, if the ship had been registered in the United Kingdom, would have constituted an offence within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty ; or

(b)on board an aircraft registered in a convention country while the aircraft is in flight elsewhere than in or over that country; or

(c)on board a hovercraft registered in a convention country while the hovercraft is in journey elsewhere than in or over that country,

shall be treated as done in that convention country ; and section 7(2) of the [1967 c. 52.] Tokyo Convention Act 1967 (meaning of " in flight" or, as applied to hovercraft, " in journey ") shall apply for the purposes of this subsection as it applies for the purposes of section 1 of that Act.