The principle, and the exception
Criminal law is in principle territorial: an offence belongs to the courts of the country where it was committed. For decades that simple rule produced a well-identified perversity: crossing a border was enough to make conduct heavily punished at home effectively unpunished — for want of a local law, of investigative means, or of will.
To close that door, most states have adopted extraterritorial jurisdiction over sexual offences against children. It rests on a personal link: the offender's nationality, or their habitual residence.
The three locks, and how they are removed
| Dual criminality | Normally the conduct must also be criminal where it took place. That condition is set aside: an act tolerated or lawful locally remains punishable on return. This is the heart of the system. |
|---|---|
| Complaint or official denunciation | Normally prosecution requires a complaint from the victim or a formal denunciation by the foreign state. That requirement also disappears: the prosecutor can act alone. |
| Limitation periods | Time limits are extended, and often run from the victim's majority rather than from the events. Several countries have made the gravest offences imprescriptible. |
What this means in practice
There is no destination where such conduct is out of reach. Apparent local tolerance, inaction by the local authorities, ignorance of the visited country's law: none of these is a defence. And prosecution at home is independent of what happened locally — including of a local decision to take no action.
Who is covered
The scope goes beyond nationality. Most statutes also reach people habitually resident in the country, whatever their nationality. Someone long settled in a country therefore falls under its criminal law even without its passport. Some statutes also cover the case where the victim is a national, which protects families travelling abroad.
Measures that act before departure
- Sex offender registers, with an obligation to notify any foreign travel — failure to do so being itself an offence.
- Refusal or revocation of a passport, which can prevent departure outright.
- Court-ordered travel bans, or bans on work involving children.
- Alerting destination countries through international police cooperation channels.
- Information duties imposed in some countries on tour operators, who must state this criminal liability in their documentation.
Reporting: what actually starts cases
A substantial share of cases opened begins with a report from a witness: travellers, hotel staff, guides, cabin crew. Three beliefs stop people reporting, and all three are wrong.
- "I'm not sure." A report is not an accusation. It requires neither proof nor certainty: it triggers a check.
- "I don't know who they are." A hotel, a date, a description, a flight number are often enough to identify someone.
- "It's too late, it was months ago." Limitation periods are long, sometimes non-existent. A late report is still worth making.
Report in the country where it happened and in the person's home country; the two are independent. Do not intervene directly — note what you can, and let the authorities act.
If you are the person concerned
A victim can complain in their own country about conduct suffered abroad, long afterwards, and even where nothing was done locally. Support from a victims' organisation is free and worth having: the process is long and technical, and no one should go through it alone.
The law country by country
The legal framework, the procedure, the time limits and the costs differ from one country to another. Each country below has a detailed page: governing texts, key facts, the actual procedure, costs, where to go and the traps to avoid.
Select a country to open its detailed page.
