18 U.S.C. § 3506
Section 3506 · Service of papers filed in opposition to official request by United States to foreign government for criminal evidence
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Davis (1985)
Most recently applied in 28 Va. App. 1 - Taylor v. Commonwealth (July 1998)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any national or resident of the United States who submits, or causes to be submitted, a pleading or other document to a court or other authority in a foreign country in opposition to an official request for evidence of an offense shall serve such pleading or other document on the Attorney General at the time such pleading or other document is submitted.
(b) Any person who is a party to a criminal proceeding in a court of the United States who submits, or causes to be submitted, a pleading or other document to a court or other authority in a foreign country in opposition to an official request for evidence of an offense that is a subject of such proceeding shall serve such pleading or other document on the appropriate attorney for the Government, pursuant to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, at the time such pleading or other document is submitted.
(c) As used in this section, the term “official request” means a letter rogatory, a request under a treaty or convention, or any other request for evidence made by a court of the United States or an authority of the United States having criminal law enforcement responsibility, to a court or other authority of a foreign country.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section effective 30 days after Oct. 12, 1984, see section 1220 of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 3505 of this title.