ABSTRACT
Before criminal proceedings may be commenced against anyone for any offence, it must fi rst be ensured that the court before whom such proceedings are to be initiated has jurisdiction to hear the proceedings. Jurisdiction can refer to several matters, but in criminal proceedings it usually includes three things: physical jurisdiction; local jurisdiction, which determines which particular court within a country hears the case; and statutory limitation, which is effectively a denial of jurisdiction because of passage of time. The principles of abuse of process, which are discussed in Chapter 2 , relate to situations where a court is asked to refuse jurisdiction to try a case because of the abuse of its process by prosecuting authorities.
