Presented By:

Mrs. Debashree Chakraborty

WBNUJS, Kolkata

Acad-2013-14

PhD-14

Cyber Space

Jurisdiction: Its meaning and scope

Jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Code,

1908

Jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal

Procedure

Jurisdiction under the Information Technology

Act

Jurisdiction under International Law

Cases On Cyber Jurisdiction

The online world of

computer network and the

internet is termed as

Cyber Space

The word “cyber space” is

credited to William Gibson

who used it in his book,

Neuromance written in

1984.

An environment for

sophisticated online

computing

Cyber crime is nothing but a criminal activities carried out by means of computers or the

Internet.

The geographic area over which authority extends; legal authority; the authority to hear and determine causes of action.

It refers to the origin of a court's authority

This insures that one court is not overrun with cases from different districts or jurisdictions.

This used to define the proper court in which to bring a particular case

It refers to the inherent authority of a court to hear a case and to declare a judgment

Original In- rem

TerritorialIn -

personam

Jurisdiction

Original jurisdiction-in which a court hears a

case at the first instance

Appellate jurisdiction - where the court hears only

an appeal from the trial court

In personam- a court has jurisdiction over the

persons involved in the lawsuit and is empowered

to deal with matters between them such as in a

law suit on a debt or accident case.

In-rem- the court has jurisdiction over the particular

thing the law suit involves such as a particular

piece of land

A body of rules established by custom or treaty and recognized by nations as binding in their relations

with one another.

3 distinct International Legal disciplines

1. Public International Law

2. Private International Law

3. Supranational Law

Jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Code, 1908

Jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal Procedure

Jurisdiction under the Information Technology Act

Jurisdiction under International Law

Pecuniary basis or

Monetary basis

Territorial wiseor

Area - wise

Jurisdiction

matter - CPC

divided the

jurisdiction of

the civil court

on two basis

Pecuniary or monetary basis -consisting of or relating to money.

Territorial jurisdiction or Area - wise -the sovereign jurisdiction that a statehas over land within its boundarylimits over its inland and territorialwaters and to a reasonable extentover the air space above and subsoilbelow in such land and waters, andover all persons and things withinthose areas subject to its control

Criminal offences shall be inquired:-

Ordinarily inland tried by a Court within whose local jurisdiction itwas committed

In case of severed local areas, where offence was committed orcontinues and thus tried by a Court within whose local jurisdiction ofthe offence was committed or the accused person is found.

If offence is committed by an Indian citizen outside India, person maybe dealt with in such offence as if it had been committed at any placewithin India

If offence was committed by a person who is not a citizen but hecommitted outside India on any ship or aircraft, person may be dealtwith in such offence as if it had been committed at any place withinIndia

Jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973Cr.P.C Chapter 13; Section 177 to 189 explains regarding the

jurisdiction of the criminal courts

Its provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means

of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic

communication.

This Act shall apply to an offence or contravention committed outside India by any person [Section 75 & 2(2)]

Section 13 speaks that if the originator or the addressee has more than one place of business then principal place of business shall be the place of business.

In case where there does not have any place of business, then usual place of residence in relation to a body corporate, means the place where it is registered.

(Section 61) Civil Court has no jurisdiction in the matter of cyber world

“International Law” is the name of the body of customary and conventional rules which are considered legally binding by civilized states in their

intercourse with each other

Principle of Universal Jurisdiction

A legal principle allowing or requiring a state to bring criminal proceedings in respect of certain crimes irrespective of the location of the crime and the

nationality of the perpetrator or the victim.

There is no formal legal basis for universal jurisdiction, but it represents a customary international norm

This phrase is used to signify that the laws of different

countries, on the subject-matter to be decided, are in

opposition to each other; or that certain laws of the same

country are contradictory.

A court can apply the law of the forum (lex fori)– which is

usually the result when the question of what law to apply

is procedural, or the court can apply the law of the site of

the transaction, or occurrence that gave rise to the litigation

in the first place (lex loci)– this is usually the controlling

law selected when the matter is substantive.

A treaty comes into force as an attempt to end conflict ordisagreement between a few countries whereas aconvention is an attempt by many countries to discussglobal issues and reach and agreement to be followed bysignatories.

Convention is a process that begins with deliberationsand ends in an agreement that is drafted and ratified bymember countries. On the other hand, a treaty is signedstraight away by the members.

Facts-

Cybersell, Inc., an Arizona corporation that advertises forcommercial services over the Internet, claims that Cybersell,Inc., a Florida corporation that offers web page constructionservices over the Internet, infringed its federally registeredmark and should be amenable to suit in Arizona becausecyberspace is without borders and a web site whichadvertises a product or service is necessarily intended foruse on a world wide basis.“

District Court Decision-

The motion of Cybersell (Florida) to dismiss the suit filed infederal court in Arizona for lack of personal jurisdictionwas granted. Cybersell (Arizona) appealed.

o Court of Appeals Decision Affirmed. –

Applying the "minimum contacts" requirements, it

would not comport with 'traditional notions of fair

play and substantial justice' for Arizona to exercise

personal jurisdiction over an allegedly infringing

Florida web site advertiser who has no contacts

with Arizona other than maintaining a home page

that is accessible to Arizonans, and everyone else,

over the Internet. No court has ever held that an

Internet advertisement alone is sufficient to subject

the advertiser to jurisdiction in the plaintiff's home

state." Cybersell (Florida) did not contact anyone or

make any sales in

Tracing the actual legal jurisdiction

for cyber crime

CPC totally deal with civil matter within the state and hence

cyber-crime is not able to come under its perview.

Code of Criminal Procedure expands its ambit on its citizen

and any ship or aircraft which is registered in India. It means

Indian court has only jurisdiction in these three fields. But

again, jurisdiction of cyberspace is not clear.

International Law is quite successful in maintaining a

peaceful and amicable relationship among the countries

with the help of various mechanism and organizations.

But, it can be observed that International Law is

insufficient to cover the primary jurisdiction in the matter

of cyber crimes.

Conflict of law can be solved by Convention and treaties.

But, India is not a signatory of the Convention of Cyber

Crime

Information Technology Act 2000 tries to expand its ambit

to extra territorial jurisdiction; still it is difficult for the

courts to punish the defendant as they may be from a

different country.

The time has come when all the countries

of the world should come forward and co-

operate to form a unique law.

India should also participate in various

international treaties and conventions to

eradicate such evil practices in the cyber

world and make the cyber space a safer

place.