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Pianka v. The Queen

[1979] A.C. 107 (1979)

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Pianka v. The Queen

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
[1979] A.C. 107 (1979)

Facts

Jamaica’s territorial sea, meaning the waters over which it exercised sovereignty, extended 12 miles from its coastline. The Star Baby, a small boat registered in the United States, was 3.8 miles from the Jamaica coastline when it was intercepted by the Jamaican coastguard. The boat, which had previously been anchored in a Jamaican harbor, aroused suspicion because it was traveling without lights at night. On the boat, the coastguard found United States citizens Bernard Pianka and Terry Hylton (defendants) with over 3,000 pounds of ganja, a cannabis equivalent. A Jamaican magistrate convicted Pianka and Hylton of possessing and transporting a dangerous drug in violation of Jamaican law. After the Jamaican appellate court affirmed the convictions, Pianka and Hylton appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England, which continued to serve as the court of last resort for Jamaican cases even after Jamaica gained its independence from Britain. The Privy Council considered whether the Jamaican magistrate had jurisdiction to try the charges against Pianka and Hylton and, if so, whether the Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone provided a defense to liability.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Wilberforce, J.)

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