Criminal Justice (Illicit Traffic by Sea) Act 2003

Restriction on arrest and proceedings.

14

14. —(1) Where a court or the Minister orders the release of a person who has been arrested, or of a vessel or thing which has been detained or retained, outside the F5[outer limit of the territorial sea] of the State, the release shall, subject to this Act and the Agreement, not of itself prejudice the commencement of proceedings in the State against that person or in relation to that vessel or thing in connection with the drug trafficking offence concerned or any other offence arising from the circumstances leading to or following the arrest, detention or retention.

(2) A person on board a vessel—

(a) which is registered in a Convention state which is a party to the Agreement, and

(b) in relation to which the powers conferred on an enforcement officer by the First Schedule to the Act of 1994 are exercised,

shall not be liable to be arrested or proceeded against for an offence, other than the drug trafficking offence with respect to which the powers are exercised or any offence in relation to an enforcement officer (including an offence under paragraph 9 of the First Schedule to the Act of 1994), unless—

(i) that Convention state gives its consent, or

(ii) the offence is committed by the person after he or she has been taken into the territory of the State.

(3) A person on board a vessel—

(a) which is registered in a Convention state which is a party to the Agreement, and

(b) in relation to which the powers conferred on an enforcement officer by the First Schedule to the Act of 1994 are exercised for a drug trafficking offence,

shall not be liable to be arrested or proceeded against in the State for that offence where the person is released under section 21(d).

(4) References in subsections (2) and (3) to the exercise of powers by an enforcement officer are to the exercise of those powers outside the outer limit of the territorial seas of the State.

Annotations:

Amendments:

F5

Substituted (22.11.2021) by Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2021 (28/2021), s. 20(3) and sch. 2 item 29, S.I. No. 601 of 2021, art 2.