Legality of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction under International Law

Abstract

Chapter 10 examines the legal risks of protecting animals abroad by offering a full analysis into the legality of extraterritorial jurisdiction under international law, and is intended to guide states that wish to use it. The reader is introduced to the types of jurisdictional conflicts that can emerge in animal law and shown how states can unilaterally prevent, manage, or mitigate them (such as through the principle of reasonableness, the rule of law, and the prohibition of double jeopardy). The chapter describes avenues for conflict resolution, including resorting to the principle of comity, or entering bilateral and multilateral treaty negotiations. It then elucidates the circumstances under which exercise of jurisdiction violates international law, in particular, the principles of sovereign equality, nonintervention, territorial integrity, and self-determination of peoples. The chapter concludes with an examination of the consequences a breach entails under international law, which is as useful for animal law as much as for other fields of law grappling with extraterritoriality.