§ Lord Gainfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will extend the jurisdiction of the courts to enable them to deal with offences committed outside the territory of the United Kingdom by UK nationals.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch)With some exceptions, the jurisdiction of courts throughout the United Kingdom is territorially based. There are long-standing arguments of principle and of practicality which support this approach.
It is right, however, that we should, from time-to-time, examine whether those arguments remain valid in the light of changing circumstances. With the agreement of his right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland, my right honourable friend has established an inter-departmental review to look at the implications for both policy and procedure of any change to the current position on jurisdiction over offences committed by UK nationals overseas throughout the United Kingdom.
The review is underway and is expected to take four or five months to complete.