Territorial extent and application
- Section 2(1) sets out the territorial extent of the Act, that is the jurisdictions of which the Act forms part of the law. Sections 1 and 2 of the Act extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Any amendment or repeal made by the Schedule to the Act has the same extent within the United Kingdom as the provision amended or repealed. The majority of the amendments extend to the United Kingdom, but consequential amendments are made to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (which extends to England and Wales only), to the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (which extends to Northern Ireland only) and to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (which extends to Scotland only). Section 2(2) contains a power to extend the Act’s provisions to the British Overseas Territories, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.
- The amendments made by this Act generally apply to the United Kingdom, however service police may arrest a person subject to service law or a civilian subject to service discipline anywhere.
- See the table in Annex A for a summary of the position regarding territorial extent and application in the United Kingdom.
