Can the US Prosecute Crimes Committed Abroad?

Yes, the United States can prosecute crimes committed abroad, but only when Congress has written that reach into a specific federal statute and only when the government can get the accused into a US courtroom. Federal law starts from the opposite default: statutes are presumed to apply only inside US territory unless Congress clearly says otherwise. Dozens of statutes do say otherwise, covering terrorism, foreign bribery, drug trafficking at sea, child exploitation, cybercrime, money laundering, and war crimes, among others. Getting from an indictment to an actual trial is a separate problem that usually runs through extradition.

The Default Rule and How It Bends

Courts begin with the presumption against extraterritoriality. In Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. (2010), the Supreme Court set out a two-step test: first, whether Congress indicated the statute should apply abroad, and if the statute is silent, whether the case involves a sufficient connection to conduct or harm inside the United States. A statute that fails both steps cannot reach overseas conduct.

When Congress does extend a criminal law past the border, the justification tracks one of four principles that international law recognizes:

Nationality principle: the US prosecutes its own citizens for crimes committed anywhere in the world.
Passive personality principle: jurisdiction attaches when the victim is a US national, even if the offender is foreign and the crime happened overseas.
Protective principle: crimes that threaten core national interests, such as security, currency integrity, or government functions, can be reached regardless of nationality.
Universality principle: certain offenses, like piracy and aircraft hijacking, are considered harmful to all nations and can be prosecuted by any country.

These principles do not themselves create jurisdiction. Congress still has to write the extraterritorial reach into each statute. What the principles do is give that congressional choice a defensible footing when other nations push back.¹

Federal Crimes That Reach Foreign Conduct

Not every federal offense can be charged when the conduct happens overseas. The ones that can tend to protect US nationals, US financial and economic integrity, or international commitments the United States has taken on.

Terrorism

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2332, it is a federal crime to kill, attempt to kill, or cause serious bodily injury to a US national abroad, including conspiracy to commit those acts. A separate provision, 18 U.S.C. § 2332a, reaches the use or threatened use of weapons of mass destruction against US nationals overseas, against US government property anywhere in the world, or by a US national acting abroad. A conviction under the weapons provision can carry a life sentence, and if someone dies, the death penalty is available.²

Foreign Bribery

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 makes it illegal for US citizens, permanent residents, publicly traded US companies, and certain foreign entities to pay or offer bribes to foreign officials to win or keep business. The prohibition covers cash, gifts, and “anything of value,” and applies regardless of where the payment is made. The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission both enforce the law, and individuals convicted face substantial fines and prison time.³

Drug Trafficking on the High Seas

The Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act prohibits manufacturing, distributing, or possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute aboard a “covered vessel,” which includes any vessel flying a US flag, any vessel subject to US jurisdiction, and any other vessel if a person aboard is a US citizen or permanent resident. The statute applies “even though the act is committed outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States,” and prosecutors do not have to prove the drugs were headed for the US. Some federal circuits have questioned whether due process requires at least some link to the United States; others have upheld convictions without one.⁴

Child Sexual Exploitation Abroad

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2423, a US citizen or permanent resident who travels to a foreign country and engages in sexual conduct with a person under 18 faces up to 30 years in federal prison. The law covers both people who travel with the intent to commit the offense and those who commit it while already living or staying abroad. The PROTECT Act of 2003 eliminated an earlier requirement that prosecutors prove the defendant traveled for the purpose of the illegal conduct.⁵

Cybercrime

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act defines a “protected computer” to include any computer used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, “including a computer located outside the United States that is used in a manner that affects interstate or foreign commerce or communication of the United States.” That language lets prosecutors reach foreign hackers who target US networks or steal from US companies, even when the hacker never enters the country.⁶

Money Laundering

Federal money laundering law provides for extraterritorial jurisdiction when two conditions are met: the person is a US citizen (or the conduct occurred partly inside the United States), and the transactions involve funds or monetary instruments worth more than $10,000. That combination lets prosecutors reach schemes that touch US financial institutions or use US currency abroad, even when the underlying crime happened entirely overseas.⁷

War Crimes

The War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2441, applies to conduct anywhere in the world when the victim or offender is a US national, permanent resident, or member of the US Armed Forces. It also applies when the offender is found inside the United States, regardless of anyone’s nationality. Covered conduct includes grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the Hague Convention, and specific acts like torture and cruel treatment during armed conflict. Penalties reach up to life imprisonment, and the death penalty is available if a victim dies.⁸

Military Personnel, Contractors, and Their Families

Uniformed service members who commit crimes overseas can be tried by court-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That left a gap for the thousands of civilian contractors, government employees, and family members who accompany the military abroad. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000 filled it.

MEJA gives federal courts jurisdiction over any conduct committed outside the United States that would be a felony (punishable by more than one year in prison) under domestic law, when the person was employed by or accompanying the Armed Forces at the time. “Employed by” covers civilian employees and contractors of the Department of Defense, plus contractors of other federal agencies whose work supports the DoD mission overseas. “Accompanying” covers dependents and family members living abroad with military or DoD civilian personnel.⁹

MEJA also has a safeguard against double prosecution. It bars charges if the host country is already prosecuting or has prosecuted the person for the same conduct, unless the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General personally approves going forward anyway.¹⁰

Where US troops are stationed in allied nations, Status of Forces Agreements decide who prosecutes. The NATO SOFA, a model for many bilateral deals, generally gives the US primary jurisdiction over offenses arising from official duties or targeting US military property, while the host nation takes priority for off-duty incidents. Host countries often waive their jurisdiction back to the United States on request.¹¹

Getting the Accused Into a US Courtroom

Legal authority to prosecute is one thing. Custody is another. The usual mechanism is extradition, governed by bilateral treaties between the US and the country where the person is located. The United States has extradition treaties with more than 100 countries, though notable gaps remain, including China and Russia.

Under federal law, extradition begins when a complaint is filed under oath before a federal judge or magistrate alleging that the person committed an extraditable offense. The judge examines the evidence and, if it is sufficient, certifies the case to the Secretary of State, who makes the final decision on surrender.¹²

Most treaties require dual criminality: the alleged conduct must be a crime in both countries. That requirement occasionally trips up offenses that are criminal in the US but treated differently abroad.

Speed is not part of the process. According to the Department of Justice, extradition of persons located abroad “can take many months or even years to complete,” even without unusual legal complications. Courts in the requested country have to hear the case, and the executive there has to approve surrender before anyone boards a plane.¹³

When no treaty exists, the US may still request surrender if the foreign country’s own laws allow it, sometimes based on an informal offer of reciprocity. In other cases, authorities rely on the host country to deport or expel the individual, bypassing formal extradition entirely.

Why an Extradition Request Can Fail

Several doctrines give foreign governments grounds to refuse or narrow a request:

Political offense exception. Most treaties exclude political crimes. If the requested country views the charge as politically motivated, it can refuse.
Rule of specialty. Once someone is extradited, the US can only prosecute them for the offense covered by the extradition order. Adding charges later requires going back to the surrendering country for a waiver.¹⁴
Death penalty concerns. Many nations that have abolished capital punishment refuse to extradite when the defendant could face execution. The US often resolves this by giving diplomatic assurances that the death penalty will not be sought.

Constitutional Rights Still Apply

When federal prosecutors bring a US case over foreign conduct, the defendant keeps the full protection of the Constitution. The Supreme Court settled that in Reid v. Covert (1957), holding that when the United States acts against its citizens abroad, it can do so only within the limits the Constitution imposes, including jury trial rights and the protections of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.¹⁵

Fourth Amendment protection follows US citizens overseas, though its application looks different: a US warrant carries no authority on foreign soil, so courts focus on whether a search was reasonable rather than on domestic warrant procedures. Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination applies as well, and federal agents operating abroad are expected to provide Miranda-style warnings, with circuits splitting on how closely those warnings must track US practice.

Can You Be Tried in Both Countries?

When both the US and a foreign country want to prosecute the same person for the same act, you can be tried twice. The separate sovereigns doctrine holds that a prosecution by one government does not bar prosecution by another, because each sovereign enforces its own laws. The rule traces back to United States v. Lanza (1922), and the Supreme Court reaffirmed it in Gamble v. United States (2019). Gamble involved a state-federal prosecution, but the Court explicitly noted that abandoning the doctrine would let a foreign trial block any American prosecution for the same conduct.¹⁶

In practice, competing prosecutions are managed more through diplomacy than doctrine. The principle of comity often leads one country to defer to the other, based on where the evidence sits, whose citizens are involved, and which government has the stronger interest. MEJA writes that deference into the statute itself by generally barring US prosecution when the host country is already handling the case.⁹

1
Office of Justice Programs. Extraterritorial Criminal Jurisdiction: Its Impact on Criminal Justice
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2332a – Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction
3
U.S. Department of Justice. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC Ch. 705 Maritime Drug Law Enforcement
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2423 – Transportation of Minors
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1030 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection With Computers
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1956 – Laundering of Monetary Instruments
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2441 – War Crimes
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3261 – Criminal Offenses Committed by Certain Members of the Armed Forces and by Persons Employed by or Accompanying the Armed Forces Outside the United States
10
U.S. Department of Justice. JM 9-20.116 – Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act
11
U.S. Department of State. Report on Status of Forces Agreements
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC Chapter 209 – Extradition
13
U.S. Department of Justice. Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Extradition
14
U.S. Department of Justice. JM 9-15.500 – Post Extradition Considerations – Limitations on Further Prosecution
15
Justia Law. Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1 (1957)
16
Constitution Annotated. Amdt5.3.3 Dual Sovereignty Doctrine