Commentary Definitions Section 17 – Commission of offences abroad
82.Subsections (1) to (4) of section 17 make provision in relation to extra-territorial jurisdiction for the UK courts for the new offences contained in sections 1, 6, and 8 to 11 of this Act, and two offences in the TACT. Sections 1 and 6 are only covered by this section in as much as they relate to Convention offences as opposed to acts of terrorism. The overall effect of the section is that if, for example, an individual were to commit one of these offences in a foreign country, they would be liable under UK law in the same way as if they had committed the offence in the UK.
83.The extra-territorial jurisdiction in section 17 is needed in order to give effect to Article 14 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (as respects the offences in sections 1 and 6) and Article 9 of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (as respects the offences in sections 9 to 11). Article 14.1 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism requires State Parties to take jurisdiction in respect of offences committed anywhere by nationals of that State. In addition, Article 14.3 requires State Parties to take jurisdiction in respect of anyone present in their territory if they do not extradite that person to the state where the offence was committed. Paragraphs 1 and 4 of Article 9 of the Nuclear Convention set out the same requirements. Extra-territorial jurisdiction is appropriate for the offence in section 8 because the places at which terrorist training is taking place are more likely to be located abroad rather than in the UK.