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FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - LONG TITLE

An Act to consolidate the Foreign Jurisdiction Acts.
[4th August 1890]
WHEREAS by treaty, capitulation, grant, usage, sufferance, and other
lawful means, Her Majesty the Queen has jurisdiction within divers
foreign countries, and it is expedient to consolidate the Acts
relating to the exercise of Her Majesty's jurisdiction out of Her
dominions:

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 1
Exercise of jurisdiction in foreign country.

1. It is and shall be lawful for Her Majesty the Queen to hold,
exercise, and enjoy any jurisdiction which Her Majesty now has or
may at any time hereafter have within a foreign country in the
same and as ample a manner as if Her Majesty had acquired that
jurisdiction by the cession or conquest of territory.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 2
Exercise of jurisdiction over British subjects in countries without
regular governments.

2. Where a foreign country is not subject to any government from
whom Her Majesty the Queen might obtain jurisdiction in the manner
recited by this Act, Her Majesty shall by virtue of this Act have
jurisdiction over Her Majesty's subjects for the time being resident
in or resorting to that country, and that jurisdiction shall be
jurisdiction of Her Majesty in a foreign country within the meaning
of the other provisions of this Act.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 3
Validity of acts done in pursuance of jurisdiction.

3. Every act and thing done in pursuance of any jurisdiction of
Her Majesty in a foreign country shall be as valid as if it had
been done according to the local law then in force in that
country.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 4
Evidence as to existence or extent of jurisdiction in foreign
country.

4. If in any proceeding, civil or criminal, in a court in Her
Majesty's dominions or held under the authority of Her Majesty any
question arises as to the existence or extent of any jurisdiction
of Her Majesty in a foreign country, a Secretary of State shall,
on the application of the court, send to the court within a
reasonable time his decision on the question, and his decision shall
for the purposes of the proceeding be final.

(2) The court shall sent to the Secretary of State, in a document
under the seal of the court, or signed by a judge of the court,
questions framed so as properly to raise the question, and
sufficient answers to those questions shall be returned by the
Secretary of State to the court, and those answers shall, on
production thereof, be conclusive evidence of the matters therein
contained.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 5
Power to extend enactments in First Schedule.

5.(1) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty the Queen in Council, if
She thinks fit, by Order to direct that all or any of the
enactments described in the First Schedule to this Act, or any
enactments for the time being in force amending or substituted for
the same, shall extend, with or without any exceptions, adaptations,
or modifications in the Order mentioned, to any foreign country in
which for the time being Her Majesty has jurisdiction.

(2) Thereupon those enactments shall, to the extent of that
jurisdiction, operate as if that country were a British possession,
and as if Her Majesty in Council were the Legislature of that
possession.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 6
Power to send persons charged with offences for trial to a British
possession.

6.(1) Where a person is charged with an offence cognizable by a
British court in a foreign country, any person having authority
derived from Her Majesty in that behalf may, by warrant, cause the
person so charged to be sent for trial to any British possession
for the time being appointed in that behalf by Order in Council,
and upon the arrival of the person so charged in that British
possession, such criminal court of that possession as is authorised
in that behalf by Order in Council, or if no court is so
authorised, the supreme criminal court of that possession, may cause
him to be kept in safe and proper custody, and so soon as
conveniently may be may inquire of, try, and determine the offence,
and on conviction punish the offender according to the laws in
force in that behalf within that possession in the same manner as
if the offence had been committed within the jurisdiction of that
criminal court.

Provided that

(a)A person so charged may, before being so sent for trial tender
for examination in a British court in the foreign country where the
offence is alleged to have been committed any competent witness
whose evidence he deems material for his defence and whom he
alleges himself unable to produce at the trial in the British
possession:

(b)In such case the British court in the foreign country shall
proceed in the examination and cross-examination of the witness as
though he had been tendered at a trial before that court, and
shall cause the evidence so taken to be reduced into writing, and
shall transmit to the criminal court of the British possession by
which the person charged is to be tried a copy of the evidence,
certified as correct under the seal of the court before which the
evidence was taken, or the signature of a judge of that court:

(c)Thereupon the court of the British possession before which the
trial takes place shall allow so much of the evidence so taken as
would have been admissible according to the law and practice of
that court, had the witness been produced and examined at the
trial, to be read and received as legal evidence at the trial:

(d)The court of the British possession shall admit and give effect
to the law by which the alleged offender would have been tried by
the British court in the foreign country in which his offence is
alleged to have been committed, so far as that law relates to the
criminality of the act alleged to have been committed, or the
nature or the degree of the offence, or the punishment thereof, if
the law differs in those respects from the law in force in that
British possession.

(2) Nothing in this section shall alter or repeal any law, statute,
or usage by virtue of which any offence committed out of Her
Majesty's dominions may, irrespectively of this Act be inquired of,
tried, determined, and punished within Her Majesty's dominions, or
any part thereof.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 7
Provision as to place of punishment of persons convicted.

7. Where an offender convicted before a British court in a foreign
country has been sentenced by that court to suffer death, penal
servitude, imprisonment, or any other punishment, the sentence shall
be carried into effect in such place as may be directed by Order
in Council or be determined in accordance with directions given by
Order in Council, and the conviction and sentence shall be of the
same force in the place in which the sentence is so carried into
effect as if the conviction had been made and the sentence passed
by a competent court in that place.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 8
Validity of acts done under Order in Council.

8. Where, by Order in Council made in pursuance of this Act, any
British court in a foreign country is authorised to order the
removal or deportation of any person from that country, that removal
or deportation, and any detention for the purposes thereof, according
to the provisions of the Order in Council, shall be as lawful as
if the order of the court were to have effect wholly within that
country.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 10
Power to amend Orders in Council.

10. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty the Queen in Council to
revoke or vary any Order in Council made in pursuance of this Act.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 11
Laying before Parliament, and effect of Orders in Council.

11. Every Order in Council made in pursuance of this Act shall be
laid before both Houses of Parliament forthwith after it is made,
if Parliament be then in session, and if not, forthwith after the
commencement of the then next session of Parliament, and shall have
effect as if it were enacted in this Act.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 12
In what cases Orders in Council void for repugnancy.

12.(1) If any Order in Council made in pursuance of this Act as
respects any foreign country is in any respect repugnant to the
provisions of any Act of Parliament extending to Her Majesty's
subjects in that country, or repugnant to any order or regulation
made under the authority of any such Act of Parliament, or having
in that country the force and effect of any such Act, it shall be
read subject to that Act, order, or regulation, and shall, to the
extent of such repugnancy, but not otherwise, be void.

(2) An Order in Council made in pursuance of this Act shall not
be, or be deemed to have been, void on the ground of repugnancy
to the law of England unless it is repugnant to the provisions of
some such Act of Parliament, order, or regulation as aforesaid.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 13
Provisions for protection of persons acting under Foreign Jurisdiction
Acts.

13.(1) An action, suit, prosecution or proceeding against any person
for any act done in pursuance or execution or intended execution of
this Act, or of any enactment repealed by this Act, or of any
Order in Council made under this Act, or of any such jurisdiction
of Her Majesty as is mentioned in this Act, or in respect of any
alleged neglect or default in the execution of this Act, or of any
such enactment, Order in Council, or jurisdiction as aforesaid, shall
not lie or be instituted

(a)in any court within Her Majesty's dominions, unless it is
commenced within six months next after the act, neglect, or default
complained of, or in case of a continuance of injury or damage
within six months next after the ceasing thereof, or where the
cause of action arose out of Her Majesty's dominions within six
months after the parties to the action, suit, prosecution, or
proceeding have been within the jurisdiction of the court in which
the same is instituted; nor

(b)in any of Her Majesty's courts without Her Majesty's dominions,
unless the cause of action arose within the jurisdiction of that
court, and the action is commenced within six months next after the
act, neglect, or default complained of, or, in case of a
continuance of injury or damage, within six months next after the
ceasing thereof.

(2) In any such action, suit, or proceeding, tender of amends
before the same was commenced may be pleaded in lieu of or in
addition to any other plea. If the action, suit, or proceeding was
commenced after such tender, or is proceeded with after payment into
court of any money in satisfaction of the plaintiff's claim, and
the plaintiff does not recover more than the sum tendered or paid,
he shall not recover any costs incurred after such tender or
payment, and the defendant shall be entitled to costs, to be taxed
as between solicitor and client, as from the time of such tender
or payment; but this provision shall not affect costs on any
injunction in the action, suit, or proceeding.

S.14 rep. by SL(R) 1973. S.15 rep. by 1947 c.3 s.5(3) sch.2; SL(R)
1973

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 16
Definitions.

16. In this Act

The expression "foreign country" means any country or place out of
her Majesty's dominions:

The expression "British court in a foreign country" means any
British court having jurisdiction out of Her Majesty's dominions in
pursuance of an Order in Council whether made under any Act or
otherwise:

The expression "jurisdiction" includes power.

S.17 rep. by SL(R) 1973

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 18
Short title.

18. . . .

(1)Any Order in Council, commission, or instructions made or issued
in pursuance of any enactment repealed by this Act, shall, if in
force at the passing of this Act, continue in force, until altered
or revoked by Her Majesty as if made in pursuance of this Act;
and shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been
made or issued under and in pursuance of this Act; and

(2)Any enactment, Order in Council, or document referring to any
enactment repealed by this Act shall be construed to refer to the
corresponding enactment of this Act.

FOREIGN JURISDICTION ACT 1890 - SECT 19
Section 5.

19.(1) This Act may be cited as the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890.

Subs.(2) rep. by SLR 1908

c.96.c.99.

eleven.

c.104.

c.113.

c.20.

c.63.c.122.c.124.

c.10.c.94.c.74.

c.6.

c.14.

c.9.c.49.c.44.

Act, 1971.Second Schedule rep. by SLR 1963; SL(R) 1973. Third
Schedule rep. by SLR 1908