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The questions of the applicability of the Code regarding crimes committed within and without the territory of the People's Republic of Bulgaria are dealt with in accordance with the traditional principles and Communist teachings related to this area.

The territoriality principle is reflected in Section 3 (1) of the Code which prescribes that it applies to all criminal offenses committed within the territorial limits of the country by any person regardless of his citizenship.

Based on the personality principle, the Bulgarian Criminal Code also applies to Bulgarian citizens for their crimes committed abroad, as explicitly stated in Section 4 (1); however, a Bulgarian citizen may not be extradited to a foreign state for criminal prosecution or serving of a sentence (Sec. 4 (2).

2

The spokesman of the present government of Bulgaria in the field of criminal law science, Professor Ivan Nenov, explains this provision on the basis of the Communist doctrine that "Bulgarian citizens must, in their behavior, always and everywhere comply with the socialist requirements-with the rules of Communist morals and socialist law." In further clarification he states that the nature of the crime and the type of penalty as well as the question whether the crime affects the interests of the Bulgarian state and its citizens or that of a foreign state and its nationals, are irrelevant. Moreover, it is not important, he states, whether the act constitutes a crime under the law of the place where it occurred.3

Based on the protective principle, the Bulgarian Criminal Code is also applicable to foreign nationals for their criminal acts committed outside the jurisdictional territory of Bulgaria, but only if these offenses are of a general nature and affect the interests of the Bulgarian state or its citizens (Sec. 5). The above-mentioned criminal law expert, Ivan Nenov, questions the possibility for the application of this provision in regard to foreign nationals who committed a crime abroad. "This principle," he emphasizes, “has a practical significance when the criminal perpetrator, a foreign national, is found within the territorial jurisdiction of the domestic law of Bulgaria against whom, in case of a sentence in absentia, the execution of the penalty could be directed."

However, in the cases specified in Sections 4 and 5 the preliminary detention and the penalty served abroad are to be deducted from the Bulgarian one. If the penalties in both countries are of a different nature, the penalty served abroad is to be taken into consideration by the Bulgarian court when determining its penalty (Sec. 7).

Based on the universality principle, the Bulgarian Criminal Code is also applicable extraterritorially to foreign nationals for their crimes committed abroad if these acts are directed against the peace and mankind and affect the interests of another state or foreign nationals (Sec. 6 (1)).

Finally, Section 6 (2) of the Code contains a provision which opens the possibility for an application of the Bulgarian Criminal Code to foreign nationals committing other crimes abroad, namely, if such jurisdiction is provided by an international treaty to which Bulgaria is a party.

The problems of the territorial and extraterritorial application of the Bulgarian Criminal Code may be summed up as follows:

(1) This Code is applicable to Bulgarian citizens for their crimes regardless of the place of commission, e.g., in the country or abroad.

(2) It is applicable to foreign citizens (a) for their crimes committed in Bulgaria; (b) for all crimes committed abroad if interests of the Bulgarian state or Bulgarian citizens are affected; (c) for crimes committed abroad if these acts are directed against the peace and mankind; and (d) for other crimes committed abroad if an international treaty, to which Bulgaria is a party, so prescribes.

2 Ivan Nenov. Nakazatelno pravo na Narodna Republika Bulgaria (Criminal Law of tthe People's Republic of Bulgaria). Obschta chast (General Part). Sofia, Nauka i izkustvo, 1963. p. 126.

3 Id.

4 Id., p. 128.

Appendix

TRANSLATION FROM BULGARIAN CRIMINAL CODE OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

Durzhaven Vestnik No. 26, April 2, 1968

GENERAL PART-CHAPTER ONE

Purpose and Scope of Application of the Criminal Code

Subchapter One. Purpose of the Criminal Code

Subchapter Two. Scope of Application of the Criminal Code

Sec. 3. (1). The Criminal Code shall apply with respect to all crimes committed within the territory of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.

(2). The question of responsibility of foreigners who enjoy immunity in regard to the criminal jurisdiction of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, shall be decided in accordance with the rules of the international law accepted by it [Bulgaria].

Sec. 4. (1). The Criminal Code shall apply to Bulgarian citizens also for their crimes committed abroad.

(2). A Bulgarian citizen shall not be extradited to a foreign state for adjudication or serving the penalty.

Sec. 5. The Criminal Code shall apply also to foreigners who committed crimes of general character abroad which affect the interests of the People's Republic of Bulgaria or of a Bulgarian citizen.

Sec. 6. (1). The Criminal Code shall apply also with regard to foreigners for committing abroad a crime against the peace and mankind, which affect the interests of another state or a foreign citizen.

(2). The Criminal Code shall apply also to other crimes committed by foreigners abroad when this is provided by an international treaty, to which the People's Republic of Bulgaria is a party.

Sec. 7. In the cases of Sections 4 and 5 the preliminary detention and the penalty served abroad shall be reduced (prispadat). When both penalties are of different kind, the penalty served abroad shall be taken into consideration for the determination of the penalty by the [Bulgarian] court.

Sec. 8. The sentence of a foreign court for a crime, to which the Bulgarian Criminal Code applies, shall be taken into consideration in the cases established by an international treaty, to which the People's Republic of Bulgaria is a party.

FRANCE

French criminal jurisdiction is based on the principle of territoriality as defined in Article 3. paragraph 1 of the French Civil Code:

"The laws of police and public security shall be binding upon all those who live on the territory.”

According to Article 72 of the French Constitution, the territory of the French Republic consists of the metropolitan territory and the overseas departments and territories. For the application of the penal laws, the territorial sea, French ships and airplanes are considered a part of French territory.

If the offense is committed on French territory, or when one of the constituent elements of its has been accomplished on French territory, the offense in all its aspects is French.

The territorial principle is not absolute. Title X of the French Code of Criminal Procedure covers offenses committed abroad by both French citizens and foreigners.1

The French Code makes a distinction between major crimes (crimes), minor crimes (délits), and contraventions (contraventions).

1 See attached Appendix.

I. Offenses Committed by French Citizens Abroad

A French citizen who commits abroad an act qualified as a major crime may be prosecuted and tried by French courts (Art. 689), provided that he is a French citizen at the time of the prosecution (it is of no importance what nationality he had at the time when he committed the major crime), that he was not tried abroad, and in case of conviction and sentencing did not serve the sentence or obtain clemency, or that the penalty has not been extinguished by the statute of limitations (Art. 692).

However, if the act committed abroad by a French citizen is qualified by French law as a minor crime then the prerequisites for the French courts to assume jurisdiction are stricter.

At first, the minor crime must be punishable not only under French law, but also under the law of the country where it was committed (Art. 689, par. 2). French court practice concerning this requirement was summarized in the French legal encyclopedia as follows:

Under penalty of cassation, the trial judge must ascertain in his sentence that all elements of foreign law necessary for the accusation are established again (Crim. Jul. 8, 1927. S. 1929. 1, 360).

However it is of no matter that the foreign qualification of the crime is different from the French qualification; it does not much matter that the penalty is not the same as that prescribed in France (see, for instance, Trib. corr. Colmar, May 11, 1950, Gaz. Pal. 1950, ibid. 1950.2.189, Rev. science crim. 1950.592 Caron. L. Hugeney).

The Court of Cassation does not review the interpretation of foreign law given by the trial judge (Carrive, Rev. science crim. 1937, 309). This judge is not duty bound to quote the text of the foreign law, and the Supreme Court refers to his statements (Crim. Dec. 17, 1887, D. 88.1.330).

It must be taken into consideration that the act must be punishable by the law of the country where it was committed not only at the time when it occurred but also at the time when the complaint was lodged (Aix, Sep. 30, 1959, Gaz. Pal. 1959.2.291); that there is no incrimination according to the foreign law when the act, also incriminating according to this [French] law, is covered by the law of amnesty of the foreign country (Crim. Dec. 31, 1936, Gaz. Pal. 1937.1420; Trib. corr. Toulon, May 17, 1963. Gaz. Pal. 1963.2.387) ... that, in general, the statute of limitations of public action against offenses committed abroad is regulated by French law (Trib. corr. Montbeliard, Jul 3, 1964. D. 1965,69. Public Prosecutor Petit's charge).

Thus, in case of a minor crime, it is necessary to refer to the foreign law unless it concerns offenses against the security of the State or counterfeiting its seal or current national monies. These minor crimes, even if committed outside of the territory of the Republic, are punishable as minor crimes committed on French territory.

If the minor crime was committed against a private person, the complaint of such person, or the official denunciation by the authority of the country where the crime was committed, must precede the prosecution undertaken by the public prosecutor.

Certain minor crimes and contraventions committed in neighboring States, as defined in Article 695 of the Criminal Code, are subject to the rule of reciprocity.

II. Offenses Committed Abroad by Foreigners

As a general rule, and subject to the provisions of Articles 690 and 693, offenses committed by foreigners in a foreign country are not punishable in France. An exception is made for the major and minor crimes specified in Article 694, which appears in the Appendix.

According to Professors G. Stefani and G. Levasseur, the exceptions specified in Article 121-6 of the Code of Civil Aviation of March 30, 1967, which in part reads as follows: must be added to the exceptions specified in Article 619: *

Dalloz. Répertoire de droit pénal et de procédure pénale, vol 1, Paris, Jurisprudence Générale Dalloz, 1967. p. 597-98.

3 G. Stefani and G. Levasseur. Droit pénal général et procédure pénale. vol. 2, 5th ed. Paris, Dalloz, 1971. p. 298.

Journal officiel. Apr. 9, 1967. p. 3570.

The legal relations between persons who are on board a foreign airplane engaged in traffic shall be regulated by the law of the flag of that airplane in all cases where the territorial law is normally applied.

However, in case a major crime or minor crime is committed on board the foreign airplane, the French courts shall be competent provided that the perpetrator or the victim is a French national or the airplane landed in France after the major or minor crime was committed.

Article 689

Appendix

CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE*

TITLE X

Major and Minor Crimes Committed Abroad

Any French citizen who outside the territory of the Republic renders himself guilty of an act qualified as a major crime punished by French law may be prosecuted and tried by French courts.

Any French citizen who outside the territory of the Republic renders himself guilty of an act qualified as a minor crime by French law may be prosecuted and tried by French courts if the act is punished by the legislation of the country where it was committed. With reference to minor crimes against the security of the State or counterfeiting the seal of the State or of curren national monies, a minor crime committed outside the territory of the Republic shall be punishable as a minor crime committed within the territory. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 are applicable to the perpetrator of an act who has become a French citizen only after the act that is imputed to him.

[2-13-60]

Article 690

Whoever on the territory of the Republic becomes an accomplice to a major crime or a minor crime committed abroad may be prosecuted and tried by the French courts if the act is punished by both the foreign law and by the French law, on condition that the act qualified as a major or minor crime was established by a final decision of the foreign jurisdiction.

Article 691

In case of a major crime committed against an individual the prosecution may be undertaken only at the request of public prosecution; it must be begun by a complaint by the offended party or by an official denunciation to French authorities by the authorities of the country where the act was committed. Article 692

In the case envisaged in the preceding articles, when a major or minor crime is concerned no prosecution shall take place if the accused proves that he was definitely tried abroad and, in case of conviction, that the punishment has been served or has been extinguished by the statute of limitations or that he has obtained clemency.

Article 693

Every offense of which an act constituting one of the constituent elements has been accomplished in France is deemed to be committed within the territory of the Republic.

Article 694

Every foreigner who outside the territory of the Republic renders himself guilty, either as perpetrator or as accomplice, of a major or minor crime against the security of the State or the counterfeiting of the seal of the State or current national monies may be prosecuted and tried according to the provisions of French law if he is arrested in France or if the Government obtains his extradition.

*Code de procédure pénale. Code de justice militaire. Paris, Dalloz, 1971-72. This translation is one made by G. L. Kock. The French Code of Criminal Procedure. South Hackensak, Fred B. Rothman, 1960, with terminological modifications by the present reporter.

Article 695

Every Frenchman who renders himself guilty of minor crimes and contraventions in forest, rural, fishing, customs, or indirect tax matters on the territory of an adjacent state may be prosecuted and tried in France according to French law if that state authorizes the prosecution of its nationals for the same acts committed in France.

The reciprocity shall be legally established by international conventions or by degree.

Article 696

In the cases provided in the present title the prosecution shall be undertaken at the request of public prosecution of the place where the accused resides or of his last known residence or of the place where he is found.

The Court of Cassation may, on the request of public prosecution or of the parties, transfer the case to a court closer to the place of the major or minor crime.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

The provisions on the extraterritorial reach, application or jurisdiction of German criminal law are contained in Sections 3 through 10 of the German Penal Code in the version of the Second Criminal Law Reform Law of July 4, 1969, to become effective October 1, 1973.

1

By providing in Section 3 of the Code that German criminal law shall be applicable to acts committed within the country,the Federal Republic of Germany has rejoined the majority of States where the territoriality principle plays the primordial role, while the other "principles" of international criminal law constitute its exceptions in explicity formulated narrow fields. At the same time this approach constitutes a return to the original provision of Section 3 in the Code of the German Empire of 1871 which reads: "The Criminal Code of the German Empire is applicable to all offenses committed within the Empire, even if the offender be a foreigner."

992

The present version of Section 3 is based on the personality principle under which a State applies its criminal law to all offenses perpetrated by its subjects irrespective of the place of perpetration. It also contains the principle of double criminality (Sec. 3 (2)) and provides criteria for the determination of the place where the act entailing the punishment occurred (Sec. 3 (3)). In the 1973 Code, these two matters are dealt within Sections 7 and 9. respectively.

In the opinion of one of the leading German law scholars "the [German] legislator has departed from the personality principle as the basis of the rule

1 Bundesgesetzblatt 1969, I: 717 (hereinafter referred to as BGB1.).

2 English translation taken from Imperial German Criminal Code Translated into English by Captain R. H. Gage and A. J. Waters. . . Johannesburg, W. E. Horton & Co., Limited, 1917. p. 1. Section 3 has been changed several times. The most sweeping change occurred when the Nazi legislators, by amending Sections 3-5, extended the application of German criminal law by making a larger group of crimes committed abroad by German nationals and foreigners punishable under German law than was provided for previously. As amended May 6,1940 (Reichsgesetzblatt 1940, I, 754) Section 3 reads: The German Criminal Law shall apply to any act committed and not punishable under the law of the place of commission if such act does not appear to be a wrong deserving punishment when judged according to the sound sentiment of the German people, in view of the particular circumstances of the place where it is committed.

The act is considered to have been committed at the place where the offender acted and, in case of an omission, where he should have acted, or where the criminal effect of the offense took place or should have taken place. (English translation takn from The Statutory Criminal Law of Germany with Comments. Prepared by Vladimir Gsovski, Chief of the Foreign Law Section. Edited by Eldon R. James. Washington, The Library of Congress, 1947. p. 7-8.

3 Section 3, in the German Penal Code version of Sept. 1, 1969 (BGB1, 1969, I: 1445) reads as follows:

(1) German criminal law shall apply to the act of a German citizen no matter whether he commits it within the country or abroad.

(2) German criminal law shall not be applicable to an act committed but not punishable abroad, if this act does not constitute a misdeed meriting punishment by reason of special circumstances [prevailing] at the place where the act is committed.

(3) An act is [considered to be] committed at every place where the perpetrator has acted, or in the case of omission, where he should have acted, or where the result became, or should have become, effective.

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