 | This article'sfactual accuracy isdisputed. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please help to ensure that disputed statements arereliably sourced.(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.svg) | |
| Nicknames | Hague Invasion Act |
|---|---|
| Effective | August 2, 2002 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 107-206 |
| Statutes at Large | 116 Stat. 820 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
TheAmerican Service-Members' Protection Act, known informally as theHague Invasion Act[1] (ASPA, Title 2 ofPub. L. 107–206 (text)(PDF),H.R. 4775, 116 Stat. 820, enactedAugust 2, 2002) is aUnited States federal law described as "a bill to protectUnited States military personnel and other elected and appointed officials of theUnited States government againstcriminal prosecution by an international criminal court to which theUnited States is not party."[2] The text of the Act has been codified as subchapter II of chapter 81 of title 22, United States Code. The act gives the president power to use "all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of theInternational Criminal Court".[3]
The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The American Service-Members' Protection Act authorizes thePresident of the United States to use "all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any U.S. or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court". This authorization led to the act being nicknamed "The Hague Invasion Act",[4] since the act would allow the president to order military action inThe Hague, the seat of the ICC, to prevent American or allied officials and military personnel from being prosecuted or detained by the ICC.[5]
The bill was introduced byU.S. SenatorJesse Helms (Republican fromNorth Carolina) andU.S. RepresentativeTom DeLay (Republican fromTexas),[6] as an amendment to the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery From and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States (H.R. 4775).[7] The amendment (S.Amdt 3597) was passed 75–19 by theUS Senate,[8] with 30Democrats and 45Republicans voting in support. The bill was signed into law byPresidentGeorge W. Bush on August 2, 2002.[citation needed]
Section 2008 of the Act authorizes the president of the U.S. "to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any person described in subsection (b) who is being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court". The subsection (b) specifies this authority shall extend to "Covered United States persons" (members of theArmed Forces of the United States, elected or appointed officials of the United States Government, and other persons employed by or working on behalf of the United States Government) and "Covered allied persons" (military personnel, elected or appointed officials, and other persons employed by or working on behalf of the government of a NATO member country, a major non-NATO ally including Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Argentina, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand).[9]
The act prohibits federal, state, and local governments and agencies (including courts andlaw enforcement agencies) from assisting the International Criminal Court (ICC). For example, it prohibits theextradition of any person from the U.S. to the ICC; it prohibits the transfer ofclassifiednational security information and law enforcement information to the ICC; and it prohibits agents of the court from conducting investigations in the U.S.[10]
The act also prohibits U.S. military aid tocountries that are party to the ICC. However, exceptions are allowed for aid toNATO members,major non-NATO allies,Taiwan, and countries that have entered into "Article 98 agreements", agreeing not to hand over U.S. nationals to the ICC. Additionally, the act does not prohibit the U.S. from assisting in the search and capture of foreign nationals wanted for prosecution by the ICC, specifically namingSaddam Hussein,Slobodan Milošević,Omar al-Bashir andOsama bin Laden as examples.[11]
Within theEuropean Union reaction was overwhelmingly negative. AEuropean Parliament resolution on July 4, 2002, condemned the act while it was in its draft stage.[12]
Dutch reaction to the Act was negative, taking issue with section 2008 of the bill. TheDutch Ambassador to the United States, Boudewijn van Eenennaam, voiced his protests saying that the Dutch were "Not particularly amused by Section 2008" and that "we think the language used was ill-considered to say the least".[13] Meanwhile theDutch House of Representatives passed a motion expressing its concern about the bill and its "detrimental" effects on trans-Atlantic relations.[14] The Danish Minister for European Affairs,Bertel Haarder, stated that the law contradicted the idea of upholding human rights and therule of law,[15] while the German Foreign MinisterJoschka Fischer penned a letter cautioning that "adopting the ASPA would open a rift between the U.S. and the European Union on this important issue [of the ICC]".[16]
TheCoalition for the International Criminal Court has called the act a "dangerous symbolic opposition to international criminal justice"[17] andHuman Rights Watch condemned the law.[4]
In 2022, an attempt to repeal the bill, sponsored byUS RepresentativeIlhan Omar, was introduced but died in Congress in committee; no vote was ever taken.[18]
| Legal texts |
|  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crimes | ||||||||||||
| Organisation |
| |||||||||||
| Investigations |
| |||||||||||
| Other | ||||||||||||