Liability Considerations

• Author: Rachel V. Rose - Jonathan P. Tomes - Lance H. Rose
• Pages: 27-38

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Criminal Liability

A truism of criminal law is that crime is normally punished

according to the law of the place where the proscribed

act occurs,

57

although some American criminal laws apply

beyond the territorial limits of the nation. Other than

those limited extraterritorial offenses, generally speak-

ing, some element of the crime must have been committed

within the state.

58

Even though some federal statutes have

so-called extraterritorial jurisdiction, the United States

Department of Justice (DOJ) has not prosecuted many

such cases because of practical, legal, and diplomatic

considerations.59

The Congressional Research Service recently prepared

a report for Congress on the extraterritorial application

of American criminal law, which purported to list all the

Liability Considerations

“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two

years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.

Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”

—Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft

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