Serious Crime Act 2015

137. Sections 4 and 5 of the 1990 Act already provide for limited extra-territorial jurisdiction in relation to the offences in sections 1 and 3 of that Act. Under those provisions, it is possible to prosecute a person in this country for an act committed abroad which would constitute an offence under section 1 or 3 provided that there was a “significant link” to the appropriate jurisdiction in the UK. Subsection (2) amends section 4 of the 1990 Act to apply such extra-territorial jurisdiction to the offence in new section 3ZA inserted by section 41; subsection (5) amends section 5 of the 1990 Act to define what constitutes a “significant link” in the context of the new offence. A significant link is established if the accused was in the UK at the time of the offence, or if the affected computer or the intended affected computer was in the UK. Accordingly, it would, for example, be possible under the current law to prosecute a French national resident in England and Wales who hacked into a computer system in France or a UK national who hacked into a computer system in the UK whilst temporarily resident in France (but who subsequently returned to the UK). Subsection (3) inserts new subsection (4A) into section 4 of the 1990 Act, the effect of which is to apply extra-territorial jurisdiction to the offence under section 3A of the 1990 Act. Subsection (4) amends section 5 of the 1990 Act to extend the current extra-territorial jurisdiction in order to fully comply with Article 12; the effect of new section 5(1A) and (1B) is to permit prosecutions of a UK national for all offences under the 1990 Act even where the conduct concerned has no other significant link to the UK, provided also that the offence was an offence in the country where it took place.