The defendant appealed his conviction for obtaining property by deception where part of the offence had taken place abroad.
Held: Smith should be overturned. The last act or terminatory theory remains the binding common law of England and Wales. The correct rule was that before an English court could try an offence it was necessary, not only for the defendant to be physically within the jurisdiction, but also that the act needed to complete the offence, here the crediting of the money, had to take place within the jurisdiction. This rule had not been replaced by a theory that an offence would be triable in England even if the last act did not take place here provided that there was nothing contrary to international comity in the English court assuming jurisdiction. The Crown Court had no jurisdiction to try the counts on the indictment.
Citations:
[1999] QB 980, [1999] Crim LR 151, [1999] 2 WLR 430, [1998] 2 Cr App R 461, [1998] 4 All ER 876
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Treacy v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1970
Blackmail was alleged under section 21 of the 1968 Act, the letter making the unwarranted demand with menaces having been posted from England to an intended victim in Germany.
Held: The appeal was dismissed. To allow an English court to have . .
Cited – Regina v Sundhers CACD 23-Jan-1998
On a charge of false accounting, the dishonest document was a claim form under an insurance policy. The judge told the jury, as is the case, that such a form would on occasion be looked at by the auditors of the insurance company. There was, . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Trade v Markus HL 1976
The offence alleged inducing persons to ‘take part’ in arrangements relating to property under the section. The participation had taken place partly in this country and partly abroad.
Held: If the ‘last constituent element’ is a continuing or . .
Cited – Somchai Liangsiriprasert v Government of the United States of America PC 1991
(Hong Kong) Application was made for the defendant’s extradition from Hong Kong to the USA. The question was whether a conspiracy entered into outside Hong Kong with the intention of committing the criminal offence of trafficking in drugs in Hong . .
Overruled – Regina v Smith (Wallace Duncan) (No 1) CACD 13-Nov-1995
In the offence of fraudulent trading, ‘creditors’ are those to whom money was owed, including future creditors, not just those who can presently sue. Deceptions practised in UK, but having their effect abroad are prosecutable here. The only feature . .
Cited – Regina v Sansom 1991
Conspiracy over international borders – comity rule applied to provide jurisdiction. . .
Cited – Regina v Beck CACD 1984
Stolen travellers’ cheques were cashed in France and then presented through normal banking channels to a bank in England. The first and main ground of appeal was that no offence had been thereby committed within the jurisdiction of the Crown Court, . .
Cited – Regina v Nanayakkara CACD 1987
US Treasury social security orders were stolen in the USA, and brought to London, where they were endorsed at a bank for payment in the USA.
Held: On those facts the ‘acceptance’ of the bills could only have taken place in the USA, and . .
Cited – Regina v Harden 1962
The appellant, in England, sent false hire purchase agreements to a company in Jersey, who posted back cheques to him. The court analysed the transaction in contractual terms, and held that as the post office was the appellant’s agent to carry the . .
Cited – Governor of Pentonville Prison ex parte Khubchandani QBD 1980
The court considered whether certain conduct, part of which took place in Ghana, would, mutatis mutandis , have constituted an offence over which the English court had jurisdiction.
Held: ‘Where a deception is made in this country, but the . .
Cited – Regina v Thompson 1984
The appellant, in Kuwait, had fraudulently caused a bank there to credit his bank balances in England.
Held: The court discussed its jurisdiction: ‘It is of course a basic principle of our criminal law that no British subject can be tried . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Stonehouse HL 1977
The defendant had been charged with attempting to obtain property by deception by fabricating his death by drowning in the sea off Miami in Florida. The final act alleged to constitute the offence occurred outside the jurisdiction of the English . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Stonehouse HL 1977
The defendant had been charged with attempting to obtain property by deception by fabricating his death by drowning in the sea off Miami in Florida. The final act alleged to constitute the offence occurred outside the jurisdiction of the English . .
Cited – Regina v Thompson 1984
The appellant, in Kuwait, had fraudulently caused a bank there to credit his bank balances in England.
Held: The court discussed its jurisdiction: ‘It is of course a basic principle of our criminal law that no British subject can be tried . .
Cited – Regina v Wall 1974
The charge was fraudulent evasion of the restriction on importation of dangerous drugs. For that offence to be committed, the drugs in question must necessarily arrive in this country.
Held: If sending a letter from abroad to England . .
Cited – Regina v Baxter 1972
The charge was attempting to obtain property by deception by posting letters from Northern Ireland to pools promoters in England. The demand had arrived in England and had been intended to do damage there.
Held: ‘The attempt to obtain the . .
Cited – Regina v Forsyth CACD 17-Mar-1997
Handling stolen goods – jurisdiction – acts committed abroad. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Smith (Wallace Duncan), Regina v (No 4) CACD 17-Mar-2004
The defendant appealed convictions for fraudulent trading and obtaining property by deception, saying that the English court could not prosecute an offence committed principally in the US.
Held: Provided some substantial element (here the . .
Cited – Sheppard and Another, Regina v CACD 29-Jan-2010
The defendants appealed against their convictions for publishing racially inflammatory material. They skipped bail during the trial, were convicted in their absence, and returned after being refused asylum in the US. The convictions related to . .
Main appeal – Regina v Manning (Sentence) CACD 24-Jun-1998
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Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime, Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 11 October 2022; Ref: scu.154947