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Abstract
---, "Contemporary practice of the United States relating to
international law - Extraterritorial application of U.S. law to crimes
on foreign vessels," American
journal of international law, 2003, 97:1,183-185.
In several recent cases,
United States circuit courts
have considered the application of U.S. law to crimes committed on
foreign vessels outside U.S. territory. This article examines three
cases of extraterritorial application of U.S. law to crimes on foreign
vessels. The first case, United States v. Suerte, involved a Philippine
national, and captain of a Maltese-registered ship, arrested for drug
trafficking on the high seas. The second case, United States v. Best,
involved an individual aboard a Brazilian vessel within the U.S.
contiguous zone near the U.S. Virgin Islands accused of attempting to
smuggle aliens into the United States. In the third case, United States
v. Neil, a national of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was accused of
molesting a young girl on board a Panamian cruise ship in
Mexican territorial waters which departed from and returned to a
Californian port. All defendants were ultimately found guilty in spite
of the fact that the crimes took place outside U.S. territorial waters.
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