Jurisdiction to prescribe in cybercrime: an appraisal of the law

Abstract

Cybercrime has become a phenomenal subject matter that has captured the interests of all sovereign states the world over. It is a crime that has peculiar characteristic which makes it different from other traditional crimes. The nature of cybercrime is such that its commission does not give recognition to physical borders or territorial integrity and therefore opens it up to multijurisdictional interests. The queer nature of the crime therefore requires the resolution of conflicts of interests of the States which have connections in one way or the other to the commission of such crime. This work examines the basic principles of jurisdiction in international law to determine the extent of their applicability to cybercrime.