Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)

Chapter IX : Offences, Penal Provisions and Legal Procedure

327. Jurisdiction in respect of offences committed outside the Republic
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(1)If any person—
(a)being a South African citizen, is charged with having committed an offence on board a South African ship on the high seas, or on board a South African ship in any port outside the Republic, or on board any ship (other than a South African ship) irrespective of whether he belongs to that ship or not; or

[Section 327(1)(a) substituted by section 10 of Act No. 3 of 1981]

(b)not being a South African citizen is charged with having committed an offence on board a South African ship on the high seas,

and that person is found within the area of jurisdiction of any court in the Republic which would have had jurisdiction to try the offence if it had been committed within the said area, that court shall have jurisdiction to try the offence.

 

(2)If any South African citizen—
(a)is charged with having committed an offence on board a South African ship during a voyage to a port in any treaty country (other than the Republic), or on board a South African ship in a port in any treaty country (other than the Republic); or

[Section 327(2)(a) substituted by section 55(a) of Act No. 69 of 1962]

(b)who is a seafarer belonging to a South African ship which is in a port in any treaty country (other than the Republic), is charged with having committed an offence in that treaty country,

[Section 327(2)(b) substituted by section 29(i) of Act No. 12 of 2015]

and he is found within the area of jurisdiction of any court in that treaty country which, according to the laws in force in that treaty country, would have had jurisdiction to try the offence if the act or omission which under the laws in force in the Republic constitutes the offence were also punishable under the criminal law in force in that treaty country, and if the act had been committed or the omission had occurred on board a ship registered in that treaty country or within the said area, that court shall have jurisdiction to try the offence, provided the Minister has generally or in the particular case requested that the courts of that treaty country shall exercise such jurisdiction.

[Section 327(2) substituted by section 55(a) of Act No. 69 of 1962]

 

(3)The Minister may by notice in the Gazette declare that the provisions of subsection (2) shall apply in respect of the courts of any foreign country mentioned in that notice as if that foreign country were a treaty country; and thereupon the said provisions shall apply in respect of the courts of that foreign country as if it were a treaty country.

[Section 327(3) substituted by section 55(b) of  Act No. 69 of 1962]

 

(4)In this section the expression "offence" means any act or omission which is punishable under the criminal law in force in the Republic.