criminal-law international jurisdiction immigration legal-concepts
If you commit a crime in an airport, are you tried under maritime law?
<p>Airports occupy an interesting legal grounds, wherein they are not technically a part of the country they are in (hence tax-free purchases in duty-free), and yet still must obey some set of laws.</p>
<p>By international agreement (though the exact name of the treaty or treaties escape me), any land (or water for that matter) that is not occupied or claimed by some sovereign nation, and is therefore not under the jurisdiction of any sovereign nation — such as space, unclaimed islands and the middle of the Pacific — is under maritime law.</p>
<p>Does maritime law therefore apply to crimes committed in airports? Even more interesting, can someone who commits a crime in an airport physically located within a country he or she is not allowed to be in (no visa for example) be removed from that airport (and therefore allowed into the country) to stand trial?</p>
<h3>Update:</h3>
<p>After some additional research, it seems international airports, embassies and certain war-risk areas (i.e. the Green Zone in Iraq, also known as the International Zone of Baghdad) contain specified areas defined as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_zone" rel="nofollow noreferrer">international zones</a>. These zones are not so much unclaimed as designated independent of the country they're in largely for purposes of diplomacy. Because of the, ahem, fuzziness of the law governing them, I'd be very much interested in an answer to the question, even if the wording on the question may have been a bit confusing to the first few people to see it.</p>

<p>For purposes of criminal law, in practice, airports in the United States are treated as part of the territory of the state (or district or territory) that they are a part of and of the United States. The <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usam/criminal-resource-manual-663-special-maritime-and-territorial-jurisdiction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">scope of maritime criminal jurisdiction</a> is defined at <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">18 USC 7</a>. It states:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The term “special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United
  States”, as used in this title, includes: </p>
  
  <p>(1) The high seas, any other waters within the admiralty and maritime
  jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any
  particular State, and any vessel belonging in whole or in part to the
  United States or any citizen thereof, or to any corporation created by
  or under the laws of the United States, or of any State, Territory,
  District, or possession thereof, when such vessel is within the
  admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of
  the jurisdiction of any particular State. </p>
  
  <p>(2) Any vessel registered, licensed, or enrolled under the laws of the
  United States, and being on a voyage upon the waters of any of the
  Great Lakes, or any of the waters connecting them, or upon the Saint
  Lawrence River where the same constitutes the International Boundary
  Line. </p>
  
  <p>(3) Any lands reserved or acquired for the use of the United States,
  and under the exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction thereof, or any
  place purchased or otherwise acquired by the United States by consent
  of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the
  erection of a fort, magazine, arsenal, dockyard, or other needful
  building. </p>
  
  <p>(4) Any island, rock, or key containing deposits of guano, which may,
  at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to
  the United States. </p>
  
  <p>(5) Any aircraft belonging in whole or in part to the United States,
  or any citizen thereof, or to any corporation created by or under the
  laws of the United States, or any State, Territory, district, or
  possession thereof, <strong>while such aircraft is in flight over the high
  seas, or over any other waters within the admiralty and maritime
  jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any
  particular State.</strong> </p>
  
  <p>(6) Any vehicle used or designed for flight or navigation in space and
  on the registry of the United States pursuant to the Treaty on
  Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and
  Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies and
  the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space,
  <strong>while that vehicle is in flight, which is from the moment when all external doors are closed on Earth following embarkation until the
  moment when one such door is opened on Earth for disembarkation or in
  the case of a forced landing, until the competent authorities take
  over the responsibility for the vehicle and for persons and property
  aboard.</strong></p>
  
  <p>(7) Any place outside the jurisdiction of any nation with respect to
  an offense by or against a national of the United States. </p>
  
  <p>(8) To the extent permitted by international law, any foreign vessel
  during a voyage having a scheduled departure from or arrival in the
  United States with respect to an offense committed by or against a
  national of the United States. </p>
  
  <p>(9) With respect to offenses committed by or against a national of the
  United States as that term is used in section 101 of the Immigration
  and Nationality Act— (A) the premises of United States diplomatic,
  consular, military or other United States Government missions or
  entities in foreign States, including the buildings, parts of
  buildings, and land appurtenant or ancillary thereto or used for
  purposes of those missions or entities, irrespective of ownership; and
  (B) residences in foreign States and the land appurtenant or ancillary
  thereto, irrespective of ownership, used for purposes of those
  missions or entities or used by United States personnel assigned to
  those missions or entities. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed
  to supersede any treaty or international agreement with which this
  paragraph conflicts. This paragraph does not apply with respect to an
  offense committed by a person described in section 3261(a) of this
  title.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Often, law enforcement at an international airport is provided by a county sheriff or municipal police department in addition to the TSA (including air marshalls) which has narrower jurisdiction, in contrast to places like Indian Reservations and federal parks, which while within a state are outside state and local law enforcement jurisdiction (although the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usam/criminal-resource-manual-667-assimilative-crimes-act-18-usc-13" rel="nofollow noreferrer">assimilative crimes act</a> applies state law in many such circumstances). They are definitely not subject to maritime jurisdiction in the United States.</p>

<p>Duty free status <a href="https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/454/~/duty-free-exemption,-gifts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">usually arises from a definition particular to tax treaty</a> and not a global sovereignty definition.</p>
