A Visiting Forces Act is a law governing the status of military personnel while they are visiting within areas under the jurisdiction of another country and/or while forces of one country are attached to or serving with forces of another country, and may also apply to some foreign nonmilitary persons who are associated with visiting military forces (e.g., dependents, civilian employees, etc.). Such acts commonly address such issues as criminal jurisdiction

Criminal jurisdiction

Criminal jurisdiction is a term used in constitutional law and public law to describe the power of courts to hear a case brought by a state accusing a defendant of the commission of a crime...

, treatment of apprehended individuals found to be foreign military personnel who are absent without leave or military deserters

Desertion

In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...

, double jeopardy

Double jeopardy

Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...

 situations, etc. Individual Visiting Forces Acts enacted by individual governments may address such issues directly, or may act as enabling legislation so that separate Visiting Forces Agreement

Visiting Forces Agreement

The RP–US Visiting Forces Agreement is a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and the United States consisting of two separate agreement documents...

s between a host country and other countries may attain the force of law. Depending on the legislative climate in the host country, such enabling legislation may or may not be necessary.

Visiting Forces Acts in specific countries

Following are some examples of visiting Forces Acts in various countries:

Antigua and Barbuda

The Visiting Forces Act of 2007 would define the status of foreign forces visiting Antigua and Barbuda). Section 7 of that Act provides that a service court of a visiting force has the primary right to exercise jurisdiction in relation to an alleged commission by a member of the visiting force or a dependent of an offense in respect of (a) the property or security of the designated state; or
(b) the person or property of another member of the visiting force or a dependent. This act is presently embodied in a bill is pending enactment.

Australia

Defence (Visiting Forces) Act 1963 is an Act to make provision with respect to Naval, Military and Air Forces of other countries visiting Australia, and for other purposes.
Section 6 of this Act specifies that it shall be read as a reference to: (a) any country declared by the regulations to be, for the purposes of this Act, a country within the Commonwealth of Nations; and (b) any other country declared under this section to be a country in relation to which that provision has effect.
Section 5 of Defence (Visiting Forces) Regulations 1963 specifies a list of specific countries with reference to which the Visiting Forces Act applies.

Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Virgin Islands

Statutory Instrument 1990 No. 242 extends the provisions of the British Visiting Forces Act 1952 to these territories.

Bermuda

Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 3922 extends the provisions of the British Visiting Forces Act 1952 to Bermuda.

Vanuatu

On 14 August 1980, the Republic of Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

 enacted the Visiting forces (Agreement) Act. This act gives separate Visiting Forces Agreement

Visiting Forces Agreement

The RP–US Visiting Forces Agreement is a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and the United States consisting of two separate agreement documents...

s with and Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 and with the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and specified a protocol for extending those agreements.

See also

• List of short titles
• Status of Forces Agreement
  Status of Forces Agreement
  A status of forces agreement is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security arrangement...
  
  
• Visiting Forces Agreement
  Visiting Forces Agreement
  The RP–US Visiting Forces Agreement is a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and the United States consisting of two separate agreement documents...