Ambit and Jurisdiction in English Criminal Law

This chapter begins with a brief description of the purpose of this book — which is to define, analyse, and explain the territorial and extraterritorial ambit of English criminal law or, in common legal parlance, the limits of English criminal jurisdiction — and explains how this topic remains largely misunderstood by majority of criminal lawyers. The chapter then discusses the ambit of the law and the actus reus of an offence, defining the ambit of criminal law, distinction between ambit and jurisdiction, jurisdictional immunities, and offences not committed on English soil recognised by...

This chapter begins with a brief description of the purpose of this book — which is to define, analyse, and explain the territorial and extraterritorial ambit of English criminal law or, in common legal parlance, the limits of English criminal jurisdiction — and explains how this topic remains largely misunderstood by majority of criminal lawyers. The chapter then discusses the ambit of the law and the actus reus of an offence, defining the ambit of criminal law, distinction between ambit and jurisdiction, jurisdictional immunities, and offences not committed on English soil recognised by English courts. An overview of the subsequent chapters is presented.