Are there any US laws that a US citizen MUST obey while traveling, even if those laws do not exist in the country he is traveling to?

Are there any US laws that a US citizen MUST obey while traveling, even if those laws do not exist in the country he is traveling to? - Stickers with I voted inscription and flag of USA

It goes without saying that the laws vary from country to country, and what is illegal in one country might be both legally permitted and culturally accepted in another.

For example, in the US the minimum age to legally consume alcohol is (generally) 21, but in many countries, the minimum age is 18 or lower. It is possible for a 19-year-old US citizen to travel to Chile, for instance, and consume alcohol legally according to the local laws.

I am curious, though, if a US citizen could potentially* be prosecuted upon returning home for "breaking US laws while on foreign soil".

Is that idea as absurd as it sounds, or are there US laws that US citizens MUST obey while they are traveling, even if no such laws exist (or are less strict) in the countries they are traveling to?

* Leaving aside the practical consideration of how anyone would ever find out what the traveler did during his trip; I'm more curious to know if there's a precedent.



Best Answer

(This is going to over-simplify things a little, but...)

Technically, as a US citizen you are covered by the laws of the US regardless of where in the world you are. However with very few exceptions, when you are outside of the US you are outside of the jurisdiction of those laws. ie, if you're a 19 year old US citizen and you're drinking in Australia then you're not breaking any law - simply because there is no law against 19 year old US citizens drinking whilst in Australia.

There are, however, exceptions.

The US government can - and has - passed laws which include a jurisdiction outside of the US. The most well known of these is the "PROTECT Act of 2003", which makes it illegal for a US citizen to partake in illicit sexual conduct abroad with someone under the age of 18. In effect, the intent of these laws was to stamp out "sex tourism", and many other countries have passed similar laws.




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More answers regarding are there any US laws that a US citizen MUST obey while traveling, even if those laws do not exist in the country he is traveling to?

Answer 2

Generally, if you break a US law even though you're not in the US - you can be prosecuted if the victim is a US person, even if what you did was legal at the place where you did it.

As mentioned by @Doc, there are explicit laws regarding sex tourism, taxes, volunteering for military service, and other stuff.

Some things may be legal, but not wise. American teenagers are notorious for getting drunk everywhere they go just because they can. Now imagine yourself a bunch of kids coming into your neighborhood just to get drunk, and that's what the locals would think of you for doing that. Its not illegal, but it is still damn stupid.

Answer 3

My understanding is there exists a presumption against the extraterritorial applicability of United States law unless there is explicit language in the law to indicate it was the intent of Congress for the law to have applicability outside the territory (and designated special areas) of the United States. This is not to say the United States does not have the ability to enfore its laws outside its territory; the United States can and in some cases does, normally violations of US criminal codes, enforce its laws on actions occuring in other sovereign States.

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