Section 4: Restriction of right to try members of visiting forces

(1) Where a person charged with an offence against Nigerian law was at the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed a member of a visiting force of a country to which this section applies, then, subject to subsection (3) of this section-
(a) in a case where this paragraph applies, a Nigerian court shall not try him for that offence unless before the trial, the Minister has issued a certificate stating that the appropriate authority of the sending country has notified him that it is not proposed to deal with the case under the law of that country; and
(b) in a case where paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply, a service court or service authority of the sending country shall not try him or deal with him summarily for that offence unless before the commencement of the trial or summary proceedings, the Minister has issued a certificate stating that it is not proposed to deal with the case under Nigerian law.
(2) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section applies-
(a) where the alleged offence, if committed by the accused, arose out of and in the course of his duty as a member of the visiting force of which he was a member at the material time;
(b) where the alleged offence is an offence against the person, and the person or, if more than one, each of the persons in relation to whom it is alleged to have been committed was at the material time either-
(i) a member of the same or any other visiting force of the sending country of the accused; or
(ii) a dependant of a member of any such visiting force;
(c) where the alleged offence is an offence against property, and the whole of the property in relation to which it is alleged to have been committed (or, if different parts of that property were differently owned, each part of it) was at the material time the property of one of the following, that is to say-
(i) the sending country of the accused or an authority of that country; or
(ii) a member of the same or any other visiting force of the sending country of the accused; or
(iii) a dependant of a member of any such visiting force;
(d) where the alleged offence is an offence against the security of the sending country of the accused.
(3) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section-
(a) shall affect anything done or omitted in the course of a trial unless in the course of the trial objection has already been made that, by reason of those provisions, the court is not competent to deal with the case; or
(b) shall, after the conclusion of a trial, be treated as having affected the validity of the trial if no such objection was made in the proceedings at any stage before the conclusion of the trial.
(4) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this section, where, in the exercise of the powers mentioned in section 2 (1) of this Act, a person has been tried by a service court of a country to which this section applies, he shall not be tried for the same crime by a Nigerian court.
(5) In relation to cases where the charge (by whatever words expressed) is a charge of attempting or conspiring to commit an offence, or of aiding, abetting, procuring or being accessory to the commission of an offence, paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (2) of this section shall have effect as if references therein to the alleged offence were references to the offence which the accused is alleged to have attempted or conspired to commit or (as the case may be) the offence as regards which it is alleged that he aided, abetted, procured or was accessory to the commission thereof; and references in those paragraphs to persons in relation to whom, or property in relation to which, the offence is alleged to have been committed, shall be construed accordingly.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from the provisions of any other enactment restricting the prosecution of any proceedings or requiring the consent of any authority to the prosecution thereof.
(7) In this section, the expressions "offence against the person" and "offence against property" shall be construed in accordance with the Schedule of this Act.