Criminal Jurisdiction Over Civilians Employed by or Accompanying the Armed Forces Outside the United States, Service Members, and Former Service Members

Chapter 212 of title 18, United States Code (Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000 (MEJA)) establishes Federal criminal jurisdiction over whoever engages in conduct outside the United States that would constitute an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year (i.e., a felony offense) while employed by or accompanying the Armed Forces outside the United States, certain members of the Armed Forces subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code), and former members of the Armed Forces. This rule is established to correspond with the Department of Defense Instruction 5525.11, "Criminal Jurisdiction Over Civilians Employed By or Accompanying the Armed Forces Outside the United States, Certain Service Members, and Former Service Members," that the Deputy Secretary of Defense approved on March 3, 2005.