Cosmopolitan Jurisdiction and the National Interest

This chapter explores the exercise of jurisdiction in the common interest. Drawing on realism and actual practice, it is posited that the exercise of jurisdiction in the common interest is unlikely unless the state has a nexus to the situation subject to regulation. The presence of a nexus may in fact serve to allocate jurisdictional authority and responsibility and encourage action in the common interest. In practice, cosmopolitan jurisdiction is hardly exercised. Scarce resources, fear of retaliation or reciprocity, and lack of local interest in global issues may cause states to forego assertions of cosmopolitan jurisdiction, unless a ‘national interest’ can be identified. The chapter then considers the actual practice of universal criminal jurisdiction.