2013 US Code
Title 28 - Judiciary and Judicial Procedure
Part VI - PARTICULAR PROCEEDINGS (§§ 2201 - 4105)
Chapter 181 - FOREIGN JUDGMENTS (§§ 4101 - 4105)
Section 4101 - Definitions
Publication Title | United States Code, 2012 Edition, Supplement 1, Title 28 - JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE |
Category | Bills and Statutes |
Collection | United States Code |
SuDoc Class Number | Y 1.2/5: |
Contained Within | Title 28 - JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE PART VI - PARTICULAR PROCEEDINGS CHAPTER 181 - FOREIGN JUDGMENTS Sec. 4101 - Definitions |
Contains | section 4101 |
Date | 2013 |
Laws in Effect as of Date | January 16, 2014 |
Positive Law | Yes |
Disposition | standard |
Source Credit | Added Pub. L. 111-223, §3(a), Aug. 10, 2010, 124 Stat. 2381. |
Statutes at Large References | 124 Stat. 2381, 2380 |
Public Law References | Public Law 111-223 |
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In this chapter:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(A) a United States citizen;
(B) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
(C) an alien lawfully residing in the United States at the time that the speech that is the subject of the foreign defamation action was researched, prepared, or disseminated; or
(D) a business entity incorporated in, or with its primary location or place of operation in, the United States.
(Added Pub. L. 111–223, §3(a), Aug. 10, 2010, 124 Stat. 2381.)
FINDINGSPub. L. 111–223, §2, Aug. 10, 2010, 124 Stat. 2380, provided that: "Congress finds the following:
"(1) The freedom of speech and the press is enshrined in the first amendment to the Constitution, and is necessary to promote the vigorous dialogue necessary to shape public policy in a representative democracy.
"(2) Some persons are obstructing the free expression rights of United States authors and publishers, and in turn chilling the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States interest of the citizenry in receiving information on matters of importance, by seeking out foreign jurisdictions that do not provide the full extent of free-speech protections to authors and publishers that are available in the United States, and suing a United States author or publisher in that foreign jurisdiction.
"(3) These foreign defamation lawsuits not only suppress the free speech rights of the defendants to the suit, but inhibit other written speech that might otherwise have been written or published but for the fear of a foreign lawsuit.
"(4) The threat of the libel laws of some foreign countries is so dramatic that the United Nations Human Rights Committee examined the issue and indicated that in some instances the law of libel has served to discourage critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work. The advent of the internet and the international distribution of foreign media also create the danger that one country's unduly restrictive libel law will affect freedom of expression worldwide on matters of valid public interest.
"(5) Governments and courts of foreign countries scattered around the world have failed to curtail this practice of permitting libel lawsuits against United States persons within their courts, and foreign libel judgments inconsistent with United States first amendment protections are increasingly common."
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