British Nationality Act 1948 - The Act Today

The Act Today

The only significant provision of the Act to survive today is section 3, which concerns the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the criminal courts over crimes committed by British subjects overseas. Generally, British criminal law does not apply to things done overseas, but there are some exceptions for acts done abroad by British subjects, such as murder. Section 3 restricted the scope of this jurisdiction to CUKCs (except in respect of crimes that would be against UK law even if committed by aliens). This was necessary so that, for example, a Canadian citizen who committed murder in Canada could not be prosecuted for it in a British court instead of in Canada.

As modified by section 51 of the British Nationality Act 1981, section 3 now restricts this jurisdiction to British citizens, British Overseas Territories citizens, British Overseas citizens and British Nationals (Overseas).

(Note, however, that section 3 is subject to any subsequent legislation to different effect, such as section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (as amended).)

Also, in spite of the fact that most of this Act has been repealed by the British Nationality Act 1981, the acquisition of new categories of British Nationality created by the British Nationality Act 1981 is often made dependent on one's nationality status prior to the effective date of the British Nationality Act 1981. This therefore means that many of the original provisions of British Nationality Act 1948 are still relevant today.