Crime in one country, criminal from another, what&#39;s the legal recourse? Consider a hypothetical situation where a USA citizen, present in Sri Lanka either legally or illegally, commits some murders and flees back to the USA. What can be done to bring this person to trial? Suppose there is no proof that this citizen killed two people. Of course, people saw them doing it, but they don't want to come forward as witnesses, and the family wants justice. Obviously, the police will want witness before issuing a warrant. If this family is represented by a lawyer who appeals to the court, what will the court do? I'm not talking about extradition or something. It is more about bringing this person to trial, whether in USA or in Sri Lanka. What is the process after a crime's been committed and the perpetrator flees back to the safety of their country? Supplemental Questions If a good lawyer was stating the question above, what would their precise terms be? Will this whole hypothetical situation fall under the case study of criminal law? Is it a matter of international laws as well?
If the police or other authorities of Sri Lanka do not have witnesses or other evidences supporting that this American committed the crime, there is little that can be done. The police of Sri Lanka could ask the police of whatever locality the person is now in to interview the accused, which they might do as a favor, but are not obliged to do. If they do such an interview, the content would probably be sent to the Sri Lankan authorities. It might or might not be of help to them. If the Sri Lankan authorities can assemble some evidence, they could apply for extradition. That is a matter which depends on the existence of a treaty. According to 18 U.S. Code § 3181 there is an extradition treaty between the US and Sri Lanka, which became effective on Jan. 12, 2001. Extradition requests are normally subject to review by the courts and diplomatic authorities of the sending nation, that is the country that is requested to extradite a person. The request may be refused if there is not sufficient evidence, or if the charge is not a crime under the laws of the sending nation, or for other reasons specified in the law of the sending nation. In the hypothetical case in the question, the main issue would probable be whether there was sufficient evidence. If it were claimed that the accused could not get a fair trial in Sri Lanka, or would be likely to be subject to torture there, that could also be a reason for refusal. In the US this is handled under 18 USC 3184 This provides in relevant part that: If, on such hearing, [the judge or magistrate] deems the evidence sufficient to sustain the charge under the provisions of the proper treaty or convention, or under section 3181(b), he shall certify the same, together with a copy of all the testimony taken before him, to the Secretary of State, that a warrant may issue upon the requisition of the proper authorities of such foreign government, for the surrender of such person, according to the stipulations of the treaty or convention; and he shall issue his warrant for the commitment of the person so charged to the proper jail, there to remain until such surrender shall be made. I do not know the details of criminal procedure in Sri Lanka, so I don't know what, if anything, a court might do about such a case. In the US, a court would have nothing to do in such a matter until and unless the prosecutor was willing to present formal charges. Such charges would have to establish that there was probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed, and that the accused had comitted it, before a trial could be held. The Sri Lankan authorities could also request that a relevant US prosecutor file charges and try the accused in a US court. In some cases the US will try US nationals for offenses committed outside the US. But in the kind of case described in the question, this would not be usual. If Sri Lankan law permits, the authorities there could also try the accused in absentia. Many countries and many people regard this as fundamentally unfair, but it is sometimes done. In such a case, the person convicted in absentia could be arrested if s/he ever came within the jurisdiction of Sri Lanka. Aside from that, Sri Lanka cannot bring the person to court unless they apply for and get extradition, or the person travels to Sri Lanka again and is arrested there. As to the specific questions: if a good lawyer was stating the question above, what would their precise terms be? There are not very many specific terms to be used. The person said to have comitted the murder (or other crime) would probably be refereed to as &quot;the accused&quot; or possibly &quot;the alleged criminal&quot;. If there is a specific term for the particular crime in Sri Lankan law, it would be used. If it were a real case, details such as the time and place of the crime would be given. will this whole hypothetical situation fall under the case study of criminal law? I'm thinking international laws as well, but then I don't know for sure what international laws are, so there's that. Yes, this is an aspect of criminal law, albeit one that most lawyers in criminal law practice never have occasion to deal with. In a sense there is no such thing as &quot;international law&quot;, that is, law binding on countries. What is known as &quot;international law&quot; is the complex of treaties and agreements between various countries and the way in which they are given effect. Nations never have to enter into treaties, although there can be great pressure to do so. A nation can always denounce a treaty, although there may be consequences such as political or economic pressure, or in extreme cases, war. &quot;international law&quot; is also the accumulated precedents for how nations have interacted in the past over legal issues, but this is only binding in future cases to the extent that a given country's laws or courts treat it as binding, or that a current treaty makes it so.
Given there was no answer here, I will state what I know about child abuse response, but note I am not a lawyer nor am I in Illinois, so my statements are likely generalized for most US states (individual laws vary by state, and I reside in Pennsylvania). In most US states, the police and child/youth services (that's what it's called in Pennsylvania but all states have similar services) work side by side and a complaint by the child to a police officer will have an emergency action taken to protect the child. The child is identified as a victim and the police and child/youth services have the obligation to protect the child and to keep them from harm. This is the main goal of police and children/youth services - to keep the child safe and act in the best interest of the child. Usually, a complaint to a child abuse center can take time to process. When a police complaint comes in it is more immediate, with police having more 'influence' with CYS (child/youth services). Especially when the child is in deadly danger (they were just stabbed, after all), the police may arrest the mother or abusive sibling or intervene therein to remove the child from the parents care with CYS-equivalent services working to find suitable alternative living situations for the child as a result of a order of removal/protection authorized by a judge. (PA at least had emergency situation response plans for these situations where a judge is just a phone call away). As well, the child will likely be made a ward of the state if the courts determine the mother cannot care for the child or is a threat as such (not caring enough to stop the brother may count), insomuch that the child may be removed from the dangerous situation and placed in the care of a willing relative or if none can be found will be placed in temporary foster care in a safer environment. Note that nothing happens rapidly without the initial complaint to the police. At age 16 the child is likely going to be taken more seriously (compared to a 12 year old, for example), and has the right to be allowed to reach out to hospital staff to ask to speak to a police officer - otherwise it takes a child abuse complaint from someone who knows the child and situation and that can sometimes take longer to process (though, the distance factor in the original question may make a complaint from overseas given a lower priority due to not knowing the person on a more personal in-person level)
I can’t speak for Indonesia but if you did this in Australia you would be a criminal. You either committed fraud or are an accessory to fraud. You would probably be considered an accessory at and after the fact which means you are subject to the same maximum penalty as if you had committed the fraud yourself - 10 years in jail. In addition, you are liable to repay the money taken, jointly and severally with your ‘friend’. However, if they can only find you, you cannot recover from your ‘friend’ as you were engaged in a joint criminal enterprise. Scams such as you describe are distressingly common and many people fall for them. As such, assuming the court accepted your story (because you might actually be the fraudster and have just made it up) you would be unlikely to get close to the full sentence and if you caught the judge on a good day, might even escape jail. If you are lucky, the jury might acquit, even though, on the facts, they shouldn’t - juries do what juries do. If you’re really lucky the police might decide not to prosecute.
When you breach a contract, you can get sued in local court, and if you don't show up to defend yourself, default judgment will be entered against you. Then the aggrieved party will have to collect, but the court in Washington (to invent a jurisdiction) can't enforce an order against a person in Norway (to invent another jurisdiction). So the aggrieved party would need to take enforcement of the judgment to the Norwegian courts. In the actual case of Norway, this is fairly simple, you just call an attorney in Norway to do the paperwork. It might be harder if the other jurisdiction is Belarus. If you return to the US, even if there is a money judgment against you for the rent owed, you will not be arrested for that debt. Depending on the state (about half of the states), you might be arrested for failing to comply with a court order to pay the debt. The difference lies in refusing to comply with a court order, versus simply having a debt. The State Department conveniently lists the reasons for denying a visa. Owing money or having an uncollected judgment against you is not one of the possible reasons, in fact even having been ordered by a court to pay, ignoring the order, and the court issuing an arrest warrant does not make you inadmissible.
You have pretty well enumerated when it is legal. On the face of it it appears that the 11 year old acted illegally. So, if he is not being prosecuted, why not? Age of criminal responsibility. Below a certain age (I don't know about Alabama but in NSW it is 12) a person cannot by law be held criminally responsible because they are deemed to lack the emotional and mental maturity to distinguish right from wrong; this is particularly relevant when the same action can be legal or illegal depending on rather nuanced circumstances. Public interest. A DA may consider that prosecution of this child in these circumstances is not in the public interest. Prospect of conviction. A sensible DA may decide that there is very little prospect that a jury will convict notwithstanding that there is adequate evidence to prove guilt. This is a subset of the public interest; it is in no one's interest to spend time and money on a trial that will probably end with an acquittal.
Exactly the same thing that stops the same rogue lawyer from putting on a mask and robbing a bank. One is the crime of fraud and the other the crime of armed robbery but they are both crimes. People commit crimes all the time; that is why nearly 1 million people in the U.S. are in jail right now - some of them may even be in there for crimes they actually committed! Were your lawyer to commit this crime he may get caught or he may not; if he does he's going away for a long time and can never work as a lawyer again. So it's simply a matter of risk assessment; oh, and ethics
A witness who disobeys a court order has automatically broken the law. Indeed, this is the most fundamental of laws; you can't decide "If I turn up to the hearing I may be punished for my crime; but not attending isn't against the law, so goodbye." A witness who goes out of the jurisdiction cannot, of course, be punished while there (though when he returns he may have to explain why he chose to leave having been warned that he must attend or face penalties- that is the meaning of sub poena). But your assumption that anybody who fails to attend probably had a good reason betrays a fundamental, though common, misunderstanding. A court has determined that your evidence is necessary for justice to be done. There is therefore no good reason not to attend. It may well be that a doctor would prefer that you did not go to court that day, and if you apply to the court it may be possible to find some arrangement. But you are not allowed to decide 'my convenience is more important than discovering whether the defendant should go to jail or not". Civilised countries have people who are empowered to make that decision; they are called judges, and the decision has been made.
If a person A, speaking by telephone to an election official B in Georgia, attempts to influence that official to improperly alter an election result in a way that would constitute frauds or otherwise be a violation of Georgia law, then the person A has committed a crime in Georgia. There are various ways to commit a crime in a place without being physically present in that state. Since there is no question what was said on the telephone call in question (because it was recorded) the question to be determined would seem to be whether it constituted a crime under Georgia law, and whether the Georgia officials think it is worth prosecuting. It is true that a trial for a criminal accusation is normally held in the state where the crime was committed (or allegedly committed). But that need not be in a state where the person was ever physically present. If a person living in State C does business is state D, and is requires to file a tax return with the authorities in D, and it is alleged that the return was false, then the person is being accused of a crime in D, committed when the false return was received in D.