Slave Trade Act 1873

26 Jurisdiction of court over offences under 5 G.4 c.113.

Any offence against this Act or the said enactments with which this Act is to be construed as one, or otherwise in connexion with the slave trade, shall for all purposes of and incidental to the trial and punishment of a person guilty of such offence, and all proceedings and matters preliminary and incidental to and consequential on such trial and punishment, and for all purposes of and incidental to the jurisdiction of any court, constable, and officer with reference to such offence, be deemed to have been committed either in the place in which the offence was committed, or in the county of Middlesex, or in any place in which the person guilty of the offence may for the time being be, either in Her Majesty's dominions, or in any foreign port or place in which Her Majesty has jurisdiction; and the offence may be described in any indictment or other document relating thereto as having been committed at the place where it was wholly or partly committed, or as having been committed on the high seas or out of Her Majesty's dominions, and the venue or local description in the margin may be that of the place in which the trial is held.

Where any such offence is commenced at one place and completed at another, the place at which such offence is to be deemed to have been committed shall be either the place where the offence was commenced or the place where the offence was completed.

Where a person being in one place is accessory to or aids or abets in any such offence committed in another place, the place at which such offence is to be deemed to have been committed shall he either -the place in which the offence was actually committed or the place where the offender was at the time of his being so accessory, aiding, or abetting.

Where it appears to any court or the judge of any court having jurisdiction to try any such offence that the removal of an offender charged with such offence to some other place in Her Majesty's dominions for trial would be conducive to the interests of justice, such court or judge may by warrant, or instrument in the nature of a warrant, direct such removal, and such offender may be removed and tried accordingly ; and section two hundred and sixty-eight of the [17 & 18 Vict. c. 104.] Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, shall apply to the removal of an offender under this section in the same manner as if the term " consular officer " in that section included the court or judge making such warrant or instrument.