NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
CRIMES AT SEA ACT 2000
As in force at 21 December 2022
Table of provisions
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
2 Commencement .............................................................................. 2
3 Definitions ........................................................................................ 2
4 Ratification of cooperative scheme .................................................. 2
5 Prosecution of offences under laws of the Territory......................... 2
6 Publication of intergovernmental agreement ................................... 2
7 Regulations...................................................................................... 3
8 Schedule.......................................................................................... 3
9 Repeal ............................................................................................. 3
10 Saving and transitional .................................................................... 3
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 21 December 2022
CRIMES AT SEA ACT 2000
An Act to give effect to a cooperative scheme for dealing with crimes at
sea, to repeal the Criminal Law (Offences at Sea) Act 1979 and for
related purposes
WHEREAS:
The Commonwealth, the States of the Commonwealth and the
Territory have agreed to a cooperative scheme to apply the criminal
law of the States of the Commonwealth and the Territory
extraterritorially in the areas adjacent to the coast of Australia.
Under the scheme, the criminal law of a State of the
Commonwealth or of the Territory is to apply in the area adjacent to
the State or to the Territory:
(a) for a distance of 12 nautical miles from the baseline for the
State or the Territory – by force of the law of the State or the
Territory; and
(b) beyond 12 nautical miles up to a distance of 200 nautical
miles from the baseline for the State or the Territory or the
outer limit of the continental shelf (whichever is the greater
distance) – by force of the law of the Commonwealth.
Responsibility for administering criminal justice in the area covered
by the scheme will be divided between the Commonwealth, the
States of the Commonwealth and the Territory under the scheme
and an intergovernmental agreement.
The purpose of this Act is to give legal force to the cooperative,
scheme, so far as it depends on the legislative power of the
Territory, and to provide for consequential vesting of judicial and
other powers.
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Crimes at Sea Act 2000.
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 2
2 Commencement
The provisions of this Act come into operation on the date, or
respective dates, fixed by the Administrator by notice in the
Gazette.
3 Definitions
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
cooperative scheme means the legislative and administrative
scheme for applying and enforcing criminal law in the areas
adjacent to the coast of Australia agreed to by the Commonwealth,
the States of the Commonwealth and the Territory.
intergovernmental agreement means an agreement entered into
under clause 5 of the cooperative scheme.
4 Ratification of cooperative scheme
To the extent that it is within the legislative competence of the
Territory to give the cooperative scheme the force of law, the
cooperative scheme has the force of law.
5 Prosecution of offences under laws of the Territory
(1) For the purposes of the operation of the cooperative scheme in
relation to offences prosecuted under a law of the Territory:
(a) a reference in the cooperative scheme to an indictable offence
is to be construed as a reference to an indictable offence as
defined in section 3(2) of the Criminal Code; and
(b) a reference in the cooperative scheme to a summary offence
is to be construed as a reference to an a summary offence as
defined in section 3(3) of the Criminal Code.
(2) Nothing in or under this Act or the cooperative scheme affects the
discretion of a court under a law of the Territory to determine
whether an offence is to be tried summarily or on indictment.
6 Publication of intergovernmental agreement
The Minister must publish the intergovernmental agreement, and
any amendments of the intergovernmental agreement, in the
Gazette.
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 3
7 Regulations
(1) The Administrator may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing matters that are:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or
giving effect to this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) does not authorise the making of regulations for the
purposes of the cooperative scheme.
8 Schedule
The cooperative scheme is set out in the Schedule.
9 Repeal
The Criminal Law (Offences at Sea) Act 1979 (Act No. 47 of 1979)
is repealed.
10 Saving and transitional
(1) In this section, commencement day means the day on which
section 9 comes into operation.
(2) Despite the repeal of the Criminal Law (Offences at Sea) Act 1979
by section 9, that Act continues to apply to and in relation to acts
and omissions that take place before the commencement day as if
it were not repealed.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), if an act or omission took place
or is alleged to have taken place on a day occurring between a day
before the commencement day and a day after the commencement
day, the act or omission is to be taken to have taken place or to
allegedly have taken place before the commencement day.
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 4
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
section 8
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Definitions
(1) In this scheme:
adjacent area for a State has the meaning given by clause 14 of
this Schedule.
Australian ship means:
(a) a ship registered in Australia; or
(b) a ship that operates, or is controlled, from a base in Australia
and is not registered under the law of another country; or
(c) a ship that belongs to an arm of the Defence Force.
baseline for a State has the meaning given by clause 15 of this
Schedule.
foreign ship means a ship other than an Australian ship.
indictable offence means an offence for which a charge may be
laid by indictment or an equivalent process (whether that is the
only, or an optional, way to lay a charge of the offence).
inner adjacent area for a State means the parts of the adjacent
area for the State that are:
(a) on the landward side of the baseline for the State; and
(b) on the seaward side, but within 12 nautical miles from, the
baseline for the State.
intergovernmental agreement means the agreement entered into
under clause 5 of this Schedule.
law of criminal investigation, procedure and evidence means
law (including unwritten law) about:
(a) the investigation of offences (including coronial inquiry); or
(b) immunity from prosecution and undertakings about the use of
evidence; or
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 5
(c) the arrest and custody of offenders or suspected offenders; or
(d) bail; or
(e) the laying of charges; or
(f) the capacity to plead to a charge, or to stand trial on a charge;
or
(g) the classification of offences as indictable or summary
offences (and sub-classification within those classes); or
(h) procedures for dealing with a charge of a summary offence; or
(j) procedures for dealing with a charge of an indictable offence
(including preliminary examination of the charge); or
(k) procedures for sentencing offenders and the punishment of
offenders; or
(m) the hearing and determination of appeals in criminal
proceedings; or
(n) the rules of evidence; or
(p) other subjects declared by regulation to be within the ambit of
the law of criminal investigation, procedure and evidence; or
(q) the interpretation of laws of the kinds mentioned above.
maritime offence means an offence against a law that applies in
the adjacent area for a State under this scheme.
offence means an indictable or summary offence.
outer adjacent area for a State means the part of the adjacent
area for the State that is outside the inner adjacent area for the
State.
participating State Minister means a Minister responsible for
administering a State Act that gives effect to this scheme.
ship means a vessel or boat of any description and includes:
(a) a floating structure; and
(b) a hovercraft or similar craft.
State includes the Northern Territory.
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 6
substantive criminal law means law (including unwritten law):
(a) creating offences or imposing criminal liability for offences; or
(b) dealing with capacity to incur criminal liability; or
(c) providing a defence or for reduction of the degree of criminal
liability; or
(d) providing for the confiscation of property used in, or derived
from, the commission of an offence; or
(e) providing for the payment of compensation for injury, loss or
damage resulting from the commission of an offence, or the
restitution of property obtained through the commission of an
offence; or
(f) dealing with other subjects declared by regulation to be within
the ambit of the substantive criminal law of a State; or
(g) providing for the interpretation of laws of the kinds mentioned
above.
summary offence means any offence other than an indictable
offence.
(2) The law of criminal investigation, procedure and evidence of the
Commonwealth includes provisions of State law on the relevant
subjects applied under the Judiciary Act 1903 (Commonwealth).
Part 2 Application of State criminal law in adjacent
area
2 Application of State criminal law in adjacent area
(1) The substantive criminal law of a State, as in force from time to
time, applies, by force of the law of the State, throughout the inner
adjacent area for the State.
(2) The provisions of the substantive criminal law of a State, as in force
from time to time, apply, by force of the law of the Commonwealth,
throughout the outer adjacent area for the State.
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 7
(3) However, this clause does not:
(a) apply to a substantive criminal law that is incapable of
applying in an adjacent area or is limited by its express terms
to a place within the area of a State; or
Example:
A law making it an offence to drive a motor vehicle at a speed exceeding a
prescribed limit on a road could not apply in an adjacent area because of the
inherent localizing elements of the offence. The scheme does not therefore
purport to extend the application of such a law to the adjacent area.
(b) give a legal effect to a provision of a substantive criminal law
that the provision does not have within the area of the State.
Example:
If the effect of a provision of the substantive criminal law of a State is limited
under section 109 of the Constitution within the area of the State, the effect is
similarly limited in the outer adjacent area for the State even though the provision
applies in the outer adjacent area under the legislative authority of the
Commonwealth.
3 Application of laws of criminal investigation, procedure and
evidence
(1) In this clause:
act includes an omission.
area of administrative responsibility for a particular State is:
(a) the area of the State; and
(b) the inner adjacent area for the State; and
(c) other parts of the adjacent area in which the State has, under
the intergovernmental agreement, responsibility (which may
be either exclusive or concurrent) for administering criminal
justice.
authority includes an agent or official.
Commonwealth judicial proceeding means:
(a) a judicial proceeding related to a maritime offence:
(i) initiated by an authority of the Commonwealth; or
(ii) for the conduct of which an authority of the
Commonwealth has assumed responsibility; or
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 8
(b) a judicial proceeding about an investigation, procedure or act
by an authority of the Commonwealth in relation to a maritime
offence.
judicial proceeding means:
(a) a proceeding in a court (whether between parties or not) or a
proceeding incidental to or connected with a proceeding in
court; or
(b) the laying of a charge; or
(c) the preliminary examination of a charge of an indictable
offence or a proceeding incidental to or connected with the
preliminary examination of a charge of an indictable offence.
preliminary examination of a charge of an indictable offence
means a proceeding to decide whether the defendant should be
committed for trial or, if the defendant pleads guilty to the charge, to
commit the defendant for sentence or trial.
State judicial proceeding means:
(a) a judicial proceeding related to a maritime offence:
(i) initiated by an authority of a State; or
(ii) for the conduct of which an authority of a State has
assumed responsibility; or
(b) a judicial proceeding about an investigation, procedure or act
by an authority of a State in relation to a maritime offence.
(2) The laws of criminal investigation, procedure and evidence of the
Commonwealth and the States apply to maritime offences as
follows:
(a) the law of the Commonwealth applies to investigations,
procedures and acts (other than judicial proceedings) by
authorities of the Commonwealth; and
(b) the law of a State applies to investigations, procedures and
acts (other than judicial proceedings) by authorities of the
State operating within the area of administrative responsibility
for the relevant State; and
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 9
(c) in a Commonwealth judicial proceeding the law of the
Commonwealth applies and in a State judicial proceeding the
law of the State in which the proceeding was commenced
applies (subject to the Constitution) irrespective of whether:
(i) the maritime offence arises under the law of the State in
which the proceeding was commenced or another State;
or
(ii) the substantive criminal law against which the offence
was committed applies in the relevant part of the
adjacent area under the law of the State in which the
proceeding was commenced, another State or the
Commonwealth.
Example 1:
Suppose that a person is charged by a State authority with a maritime offence on
the assumption that the offence was committed in the inner adjacent area for the
State but the court is satisfied in the course of proceedings that the acts alleged
against the defendant took place in the outer adjacent area for the State. In this
case, the court could continue with the proceedings under the procedural laws of
the State. However, the court could not (for example) convict the defendant on
the basis of a majority verdict of a jury (because to do so would be contrary to the
Commonwealth Constitution – see Cheatle v The Queen (1993) 177 CLR 541).
Example 2:
Suppose that a person is charged by a State authority in a South Australian court
with a maritime offence alleged to have been committed in the adjacent area for
Western Australia. For the purposes of the proceedings, the offence would be
classified as a major indictable, minor indictable or summary offence according to
the South Australian rules and not by reference to its classification under the law
of Western Australia or the Commonwealth.
(3) This clause operates to the exclusion of any Commonwealth or
State law that is inconsistent with it.
(4) A Commonwealth or State law enacted or made after the
commencement of this clause is to be construed as having effect
subject to this clause, unless the law expressly overrides this
clause.
(5) The Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977
(Commonwealth) does not apply to a decision taken under a State
law that applies to investigations, procedures and acts by
authorities of the State under paragraph (b) of subclause (2).
4 Evidentiary presumption about the locus of an offence
If, in proceedings for a maritime offence, an alleged act, omission or
state of affairs, that is an element of the offence, is proved, an
allegation in the information or complaint that the act, omission or
state of affairs happened in the adjacent area, inner adjacent area
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 10
or outer adjacent area for a particular State is taken to be proved in
the absence of proof to the contrary.
Part 3 The Intergovernmental agreement
5 Intergovernmental agreement
(1) The Commonwealth Attorney-General, on behalf of the
Commonwealth, and the participating State Ministers may enter into
an agreement providing for the division of responsibility for
administering and enforcing the law relating to maritime offences.
(2) The intergovernmental agreement may provide for concurrent
responsibility in specified parts of the adjacent area.
6 Effect of the agreement
(1) A charge of a maritime offence must not be brought in a court
contrary to the intergovernmental agreement.
(2) If a charge of a maritime offence is brought in a court in
contravention of subclause (1), the court must, on application by the
Commonwealth Attorney-General or a participating State Minister,
permanently stay the proceedings in that court.
(3) However:
(a) a contravention of subclause (1) does not affect a court’s
jurisdiction; and
(b) if a charge of a maritime offence is brought in a court, the
court will not (except on an application under subclause (2))
be concerned to enquire into whether the intergovernmental
agreement has been complied with.
Part 4 Limitations and exclusions
7 Commonwealth Attorney-General’s consent required for
certain prosecutions
(1) The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s written consent is required
before a charge of a maritime offence can proceed to hearing or
determination or, if the offence is an indictable offence, to a
preliminary examination in committal proceedings, if:
(a) the offence is alleged to have been committed on or from a
foreign ship; and
(b) the ship is registered under the law of a country other than
Australia; and
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 11
(c) the country of registration has, under international law,
jurisdiction over the alleged offence.
(2) Before granting such a consent, the Commonwealth Attorney-
General must take into account any views expressed by the
government of the country of registration.
(3) Even though the Commonwealth Attorney-General has not granted
such a consent, the absence of consent is not to prevent or delay:
(a) the arrest of the suspected offender or proceedings related to
arrest (such as proceedings for the issue and execution of a
warrant); or
(b) the laying of a charge against the suspected offender; or
(c) proceedings for the extradition to Australia of the suspected
offender; or
(d) proceedings for remanding the suspected offender in custody
or on bail.
(4) If the Commonwealth Attorney-General declines to grant consent,
the court in which the suspected offender has been charged with
the offence must permanently stay the proceedings.
(5) In any proceedings, an apparently genuine document purporting to
be a copy of a written consent granted by the Commonwealth
Attorney-General in accordance with this clause will be accepted,
in the absence of proof to the contrary, as proof of such consent.
8 Non-exclusion of consistent extraterritorial legislative
schemes
This scheme does not exclude the extraterritorial operation of State
law to the extent that the State law is capable of operating
extraterritorially consistently with the scheme.
9 Exclusion of certain laws from ambit of scheme
This scheme does not apply to State and Commonwealth laws
excluded by regulation from the ambit of the scheme.
Part 5 Miscellaneous
11 Interpretation
The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Commonwealth) applies to this
scheme in the same way as to a Commonwealth Act.
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 12
12 Regulations
(1) The Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters:
(a) required or permitted by this scheme to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out, or
giving effect to, this scheme.
(2) However, a regulation affecting the operation of this scheme in
relation to the inner adjacent area for a State may only be made
with the agreement of the participating State Minister for the
relevant State.
Part 6 Adjacent areas
13 Definitions
In this Part:
baseline of Australia’s territorial sea means the baseline from
which the breadth of the territorial sea is to be measured under
section 7 of the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973
(Commonwealth).
continental shelf has the same meaning as in the Seas and
Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Commonwealth).
territorial sea has the same meaning as in the Seas and
Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Commonwealth).
14 Adjacent areas
(1) The adjacent area for New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia
or Tasmania is so much of the area described in Schedule 1 to the
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth)
in relation to that State as is within the outer limits of the continental
shelf and includes the space above and below that area.
(2) The adjacent area for Queensland is:
(a) so much of the area described in Schedule 1 to the Offshore
Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) in
relation to Queensland as is within the outer limits of the
continental shelf; and
(b) the Coral Sea area (within the meaning of section 8(2) of the
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006
(Cth) other than the territorial sea within the Coral Sea area; and
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 13
(c) the areas within the outer limits of the territorial sea adjacent
to certain islands of Queensland as determined by
proclamation on 4 February 1983 under section 7 of the Seas
and Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Commonwealth); and
(d) the space above and below the areas described in
paragraphs (a), (b) and (c).
(3) The adjacent area for Western Australia is:
(a) so much of the area described in Schedule 1 to the Offshore
Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) in
relation to Western Australia as is within the outer limits of the
continental shelf; and
(b) the space above and below the area described in
paragraph (a).
(4) The adjacent area for the Northern Territory is:
(a) so much of the area described in Schedule 1 to the Offshore
Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) in
relation to the Northern Territory as is within the outer limits of
the continental shelf; and
(b) the offshore area for the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier
Islands (within the meaning of section 8(1) of the Offshore
Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth))
other than the territorial sea within that area; and
(c) the space above and below the areas described in
paragraphs (a) and (b).
(5) However, the adjacent area for a State does not include any area
inside the limits of any State or Territory.
(6) A reference in this clause to the area described in Schedule 1 to the
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth)
in relation to a State or Territory is a reference to the scheduled
area for that State or Territory within the meaning given by that
Schedule.
15 Baselines
The baseline for a State is the part of the baseline of Australia’s
territorial sea from which the part of the territorial sea that is within
the adjacent area for that State is measured.
Schedule The Cooperative Scheme
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 14
16 Indicative map
(1) A map showing the various areas that are relevant to this scheme
appears in Appendix 1 to Schedule 1 to the Crimes at Sea
Act 2000 (Cth).
(2) The map is intended to be indicative only. The provisions of this
scheme and of the body of this Act prevail over the map if there is
any inconsistency.
ENDNOTES
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 15
ENDNOTES
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Crimes at Sea Act 2000 (Act No. 73, 2000)
Assent date 14 December 2000
Commenced 31 March 2001 (Gaz G11, 21 March 2001, p 3)
Statute Law Revision Act 2014 (Act No. 38, 2014)
Assent date 13 November 2014
Commenced 13 November 2014
Local Court (Related Amendments) Act 2016 (Act No. 8, 2016)
Assent date 6 April 2016
Commenced 1 May 2016 (s 2, s 2 Local Court (Repeals and Related
Amendments) Act 2016 (Act No. 9, 2016) and Gaz S34,
29 April 2016)
Justice and Licensing Legislation Further Amendment Act 2022 (Act No. 21, 2022)
Assent date 31 October 2022
Commenced pt 3: 1 February 2023; rem: 21 December 2022 (Gaz G50,
21 December 2022, p 1)
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22 of 2018) to: ss 1, 9 and 10 and lt.
4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
s 5 amd No. 8, 2016, s 45
sch amd No. 38, 2014, s 2; No. 21, 2022, s 4