UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION

Universal Jurisdiction authorizes States to apply their law to certain crimes. The term is refered to competence of any state which obtains custody of the ofender to proscribe and punish a crime.

When we refer to Universal Jurisdiction, we mention it under the principles or rules of International Criminal Law, where national and international public law are interacting constantly.

 

Today, International Criminal Law has an enormous importance. According to Edward M. Wise, the expansion is a result both of: a) increasing "globalization" of criminal conduct and consequently of national criminal law and b) increasing reliance on criminal sanctions to enforce norms of international law, especially norms of International Humans Rights and humanitarian law.
Also, non profit organisations have shown an increasing international crimes worldwide (for example, a spanish NPO Movimiento Contra la Intolerancia has reported on "Hate Crimes" Annual Paper 2012 an increasing of criminal conduct of hatred).Finally the rules and principles of International Criminal Court has been applied to National Courts. (See "Principales figuras de la imputación a título de autor en Derecho Penal Internacional..." by Alicia Gil Gil on Cuadernos de Política Criminal nº109/2013)

Respect of Guarantees of the Procedure, some International Treaties  like Rome Convention of 1953, can be an important tool to extend a minimum of common guarantees on each domestic law.

Acording to the principle of domestic criminal jurisdiction, a State can prosecute and punish a crime when it is prepared or realised in its national land. In Spain the law (Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial) add exceptions to the main rule:

1. When a crime has been occured in a embassy or consulate and it's been done by diplomatic people. See: Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963
2. When a crime has been occured on a spanish boat or on a spanish plane. (ART 23.1 Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial)

Both of them, Spanish Jurisdiction can act on extraterritorial crime

However the Spanish law doesn't explain the cases refered to the action or the resault when both of them haven't been produced at the same place.

 

Today the consequence of a crime just can't be studied under domestic rules whether the action or the resault hasn't been occured in the same State. But, one of most importat aspects of the International Criminal Law is that there is no "International Standards of Criminal Justice" respect of  prosecuting and castigating and whether a National Court have the power to impose specifically penal sanctions on offenders.

 

In Spain, Suprem Court has ruled that "La teoría de la ubicuidad en materia de competencia territorial se ha constituido en la doctrina dominante" whereby a crime will be commeted in all of places where action or result has been occured. STS 2930/2013.

 

But 23.2, 23.3 and 23.4 ARTS of Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial, established crime cases although they haven't been occured in its jurisdiction, State can asume jurisdiction over extraterritorial offenses. a) Crime committed by spanish citizen (include national and non national with residence) whether the fact is punished in the State where it has been committed, b) Crimes against Spanish State interests (see point 3 of 23 ART); c) Crimes against humanity (genocide, terrorrism, piracy, coin counterfeiting, drug's traffic, kid's corruption and procuring of minors).

 

Finally, 23.5 ART of Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial, states procedure rules for applying of spanish jurisdiction: 1) there is no sentence about criminal facts, 2) that criminal who wasn't pardoned 3) that criminal who wasn't served the sentence.