Extraterritoriality

Definition. The application, or claimed application, of a state's legal rule to persons, acts or situations involving elements located outside its territory.

Key points. Extraterritoriality must be distinguished from the external effects of a national decision.

A rule is extraterritorial when a state seeks to regulate legally conduct or a situation located wholly or partly outside its territory. By contrast, a state may take a decision within its own territory on the basis of acts carried out abroad without claiming to subject those acts to its law.

An entry restriction illustrates this difference. When a state refuses a person access to its territory because of conduct carried out abroad, the admission decision takes effect at that state's border. It does not necessarily make the conduct that prompted the refusal unlawful in the country where it occurred.

The distinction is essential to analysing the international circulation of norms. A national norm may influence the conduct of foreign actors without formally acquiring the force of law in their state.

Related concepts. Visa restriction · Targeted sanction · Legislative sovereignty