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The Indeterminate International Law Of Jurisdiction, The Presumption Against Extraterritorial Effect Of Statutes, And Certainty In U.S. Criminal Law, Kenneth S. Gallant

Faculty Scholarship

It is, in certain cases, impossible for persons to tell in advance which states will have effective legislative jurisdiction over their acts. In these cases, it is impossible to tell in advance whose law the person must obey. This quandry arises where some national law purports to regulate outsiders and their acts in a manner arguably inconsistent with the international law of legislative jurisdiction. If the regulating state's courts do not allow challenges to jurisdiction based on international law, and the state of the outsider's nationality fails to protect her diplomatically, the outsider has no protection against excessive claims of …