Enforcement of the universality principle in combating cybercrime as a transnational crime

Laburpena

Cybercrime, as a borderless, technologically advanced transnational threat exemplified by ransomware and cross-border intrusions, challenges territorially bound criminal jurisdiction. This article investigates whether universal jurisdiction applies to cybercrime under current international law and evaluates the Budapest Convention's role in jurisdictional challenges. Using normative juridical methods with doctrinal and comparative approaches, it analyzes international instruments, criminal law principles, and scholarly views. Findings reveal cybercrime lacks universal jurisdiction status in positive law; the Budapest Convention promotes territorial and extraterritorial jurisdiction via domestic law harmonization and cooperation, not universality. Conflating universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction breeds doctrinal confusion and uncertainty. The study advocates clearer distinctions between these bases to bolster legal certainty and aid enforcement against transnational cybercrime.