(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person on board an aircraft in flight who unlawfully, by the use of force or by threats of any kind, seizes the aircraft or exercises control of it commits the offence of hijacking, whatever his or her nationality, whatever the State in which the aircraft is registered and whether the aircraft is in Saint Lucia or elsewhere.
(2) If—
(a) the aircraft is used in military, customs or police service; or
(b) both the place of take-off and the place of landing are in the territory of the State in which the aircraft is registered;
subsection (1) shall not apply unless—
(i) the person seizing or exercising control of the aircraft is a citizen of Saint Lucia,
(ii) the act is committed in Saint Lucia, or
(iii) the aircraft is registered in Saint Lucia; or is used in the military or customs service of Saint Lucia or in the service of the Saint Lucia Police Force.
(3) A person who—
(a) commits the offence of hijacking; or
(b) in Saint Lucia induces or assists the commission elsewhere of an act which would, but for subsection (2), be the offence of hijacking,
is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a) the period during which an aircraft is in flight includes—
(i) any period from the moment when all external doors, if any, of the aircraft are closed following embarkation for a flight until the moment when any such door is opened for disembarkation after that flight, and
(ii) if the aircraft makes a forced landing, any period thereafter until the time when the competent authorities of the State in which that landing takes place take over responsibility for the aircraft and for the persons and property on board the aircraft (being if that landing takes place in Saint Lucia, the time when a police officer arrives at the place of landing);
(b) the territorial sea of any State shall be treated as part of its territory.
(5) In this section “military service” includes naval and air force service.