State jurisdiction, Nature Jurisdiction,Prescriptive jurisdiction and enforcement Jurisdiction, Territorial of “enforcement jurisdiction”

State Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the term that describe the limits of the legal competence of a state or other regulatory authority or instituition. The term jurisdiction is also commonly used in international law to describe the scope of the right of an Internatonal Criminal Court, to adjudicate upon cases and to make practically useful to distinguishes between the jusrisdiction of States and the jurisdiction of tribunals and to treat them separately.

Nature of Jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction is the aspect of State Sovereignity . It Includes both the power to prescribe rules ( prescriptive jusrisdiction )  and the power to enforce them (enforcement jurisdiction)  . The former referes to the legislative power of a State and the latter includes both executive and judicial power of the enforcement. That is why some writers simply talk about legislative, executive and judical jurisdiction = refer to function of sovereign state.

Prescriptive jurisdiction and enforcement Jurisdiction

Prescriptive jurisdiction or legislative jurisdiction is the power of the state to apply its national law to any person, property , territory or event, wherever they may be situated or wherever they may occur. In international law, there is no general prohibition States extending their legislative jurisdiction to person, property and event taking place outside their territory. This right to legislate for matters beyond the territorial domain flows from the absolute “sovereignity’ of the State.

However , the practical effect of this jurisdiction is restricted by the “ enforcement jurisdiction” . The latter embraces acts designed to enforce the prescriptive jurisdiction , either by way of administrative action or (executive jusrisdiction) such as arrest or seizure or by way of judicial action (or judicial jurisdiction) through the courts.  The relationship betwen the two kinds of jurisdiction is quite clear. There can be no enforcement jurisdiction unless there is prescriptive jurisdiction; yet there may be a prescriptive jurisdiction without the possibility of an enfocement jurisdcition, as for example where accused is outside the territory of the prescribing States and not amenable to extraditon.

Territorial of “enforcement jurisdiction”

Judgfe Huber stated in the Island of Palmas case ; “sovereignity ..in regard to a portion of the globe is the right to exercise therein, to the exclusion of any other State, the function of a State.” Sovereigtnity is undoubtedly territorial in nature. Even though a State may have a general power under international law to prescribe jurisdiction, the enforcement of that jurisdiction can generally take place only within its own territory. In the Lotus case the PCIJ affirmed that “ a State may not exercise its enforcement jurisdiction in the territory of another States. As a result the actual exercise of jurisdiction – the operation of a police force, national courts, etc-is limited to the ‘territory’ of the State asserting jurisdiction.

For instance if a man commits a murder in Malaysia and escapes to Indonesia,the Malaysian courts have jurisdictionto try him but the Malaysia police cannot enter Indonesian Territory and arrest him there; they must request the Indonesian authorities to arrest him and to surrender him for trials in Malaysia. It follows the Principles of “ territorial sovereignity” , according to which a states may not Perform any governmental act in the territory of another State without the latters consen