House of Lords
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836202600305 |
| Published date | 01 July 1962 |
| Date | 01 July 1962 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
House of Lords
JURISDICTION OVER OFFENCES COMMITTED ABROAD
COX
o,
Army
Council
MUCH of
the
reasoning in the speeches of their lordships in
this case (1962, W.L.R. 950) is of importance as regards
jurisdiction over alleged offences committed abroad generally
and is not limited to s. 70 of
the
Army Act, 1955.
That
section lays down
that
any person subject to military law who
commits a civil offence, whether in the United Kingdom or
elsewhere, is guilty of an offence against
the
section.
The
expression "civil offence" means
"any
act or omission punish-
able by the law of England or which,
if
committed in England,
would be punishable by the law".
The
House (Lords Simonds,
Reid, Radcliffe, Morris of Borth-y-Gest, and Jenkins) upheld
the
decision of
the
Courts-Martial Appeal Court (1962, 2
W.L.R. 126,
sub.
nom. R. o, Cox) which dismissed an appeal
against conviction of driving without due care and attention
on a road in Germany, contrary to s. 70 and to s. 3
(I)
of
the
Road Traffic Act, 1960.
The
appellant was serving with
the
British army in Germany.
"I
cannot accept
the
simple argument," said Viscount
Simonds,
"that
if an act is committed on a German road, it
cannot be a civil offence within s. 70. Such aconstruction
gives no content to
the
words
'or
which,
if
committed in
England, would be punishable by
that
law', and frustrates
the
clear purpose of the Army Act, namely, to make those persons
subject to military law who are serving abroad liable to
punishment for offences which, though not military offences
in a narrow sense, are yet prejudicial to discipline. Amongst
these
must
be placed those acts which fall short of the standard
of behaviour towards each other and
the
inhabitants of
the
occupied territory which military discipline traditionally
demands". At the same time Viscount Simonds regarded it as
obvious
that
the
whole body of our criminal law cannot be
thus translated to a foreign country.
aos
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