Question by John D: If someone is killed on a swiss cruise ship in international waters and the person who was killed was from?
US and the person who killed them was from China/North Korea or well any country that dislikes the US but has a good size military. Where will the person be tried? The point of the question is to find out what would happen to the person who broke the law and if two countries that are not on good terms who would try this person. You would assume that a person going to be tried in a country that dislikes americans may have a lighter sentence but if they came to the US they may have a more lengthy sentence. The swiss boat was set in there because the Swiss usually wouldnt get involved in this. So what do you think would happen? Would it involve the military in anyway? If either of these people were in the military would it change how this was tried? There is alot of what if in this question to make this happen but it could.
Im not worried about spelling or grammer mistakes just answer the ?
O and yes landlock countries do actually own cruise ships. They do not have to have ports for them to be owned by a country. This questions does not state they left from a Swiss port.
True but usually the swiss stay out of conflicts and this one could end with a major conflict between 2 countries that are considered military powers
I have read about leon klinghoffer but this is between two countries who have been having disagreements in the current day. yes Italy and the US are not the greatist of friends but Italy could not at the moment match any military might the US has compared to a maybe more even China well atleast more even compared to Italy and the US. Also those were extremist and the arguement was over if they could try them because they ended up in Italy but this is if two countries were fighting over there own citzens and where a trial would be. Also if the trial would be as fair in one country as another.
Best answer:
Answer by Teekno
A Swiss cruise ship?
Well, I think they should set sail for one of Switzerland’s many bustling seaports and hand them over to the canton authorities.
The law of the nation where the ship is flagged takes precedence.
The Swiss don’t generally get involved in external affairs, but this is an internal affair. A crime that occurred on a Swiss-flagged ship might as well have occurred in downtown Geneva.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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I think that is the most intelligent and intriguing question I have ever seen. Please submit more.
Wow!!! Lots of variables here. Here is what I think. The first thing the Captain would do is try to figure out if anyone liked the deceased. If there wasn’t anyone they would just throw him over board and get on with the cruise. However, if there was say one person who liked him they would probably throw them both over board and get on with the cruise. Now if there was a bunch of folks that liked him they would suggest that those people try to decide if they liked him well enough to swim home. Just a thought.
In international waters jurisdiction follows the flag of the vessel. By treaty the accused would have the right to notify and speak to a consular official of his home country.
Military status does not change the above rule EXCEPT: where the military of one country are stationed in another there is always a status of forces treaty that governs prosecution for crimes committed by the in uniform (& sometimes out of uniform) guest military personnell which may change the general rule.
edit: BTW there are Swiss vessels in international waters including Lake Geneva, Lake Como & the Rhine River.
I suggest you google “leon klinghoffer”.
your question is not as hypothetical as you may think.
There are some cases like that. They could be tried in China/N.Korea or Switzerland. It’s just like when someone is a citizen of California but they killed someone in Nevada. Because they comitted the crime in Nevada, Nevada has jurisdiction because the defendant purposefully availed themselves to the laws and protections of the state they were in at the time. If the defendnat was Chinese but went on a Swiss cruiseline, they purposefully availed themselves to the laws and protections that govern Swiss Admirality law so they could be tried in Switzerland. You could also try them in the defendant’s homeland because according to American Federal law, the defendant has the right of due process. If they could reasonably forsee being hauled into court in that jurisdiction, then they could be tried there. The American/Plaintiff (Deceased’s estate) could try to bring an action in US court but a forum non-conveniens could easily be granted and the case moved to Switzerland or China.
Good question. I could be wrong but these types of things are becoming more common and there isn’t a whole lot of precedent established on the subject since the world has become so global.
EDIT: International pressure is a factor sometimes. If the supreme court feels it might be negative, they might oblige the foreign country. A good case that kind of shows that pressure is Helicopteros.
study yourself or ask your law professor…